


Spreading Madness

by jfrowen



Series: Spreading Madness [1]
Category: Mad King Ryan - Fandom, Ryan Haywood - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fighting, GTA-Universe, Mad King Ryan, Smut, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-08-27
Packaged: 2018-04-01 05:41:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 40,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4007968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jfrowen/pseuds/jfrowen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shay isn't your average woman. In fact she is quite insane. That doesn't stop her from risking her life by robbing people to make money. However all that changes when she gets a mysterious email from someone named MK. Trusting her instincts, she meets up with MK and ends up with a job? Well then.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Let's Get this Party Started

Let me tell you something about getting your ass handed to you in a fight. It sucks. It also hurts like hell. Of course that isn’t stopping me from going at my opponent yet again. I winced as I was slammed into the wall but I didn’t cry out in pain. I started laughing. See, the problem with being insane is that everything you do is extremely funny even if it hurts.

“What’s so funny girl!?” The guy asked. “You come into my home, try to steal my things and you have the gall to laugh at my face?!” The guy had a point. I needed to make some money and he seemed rich. I just never thought he’d be strong. I had almost made it out of the house with a few valuables which were sure to fetch a high price but then this giant gorilla came home. Then I had the bright idea to fight my way out but well…that didn’t work out. So now I was faced with going to jail. That wasn’t sitting well on my mind. I decided to play dead. When I didn’t get back up the guy went to his phone and called the police. I could hear him talking in the other room and I quickly made my escape. I grabbed the bag that held the things I had come for and slipped out the door, wincing every time I moved. I was able to make it to my motorcycle before he noticed I left and I took off, racing down the streets until I got to my apartment building. I hurried up the stairs and headed into my apartment, sighing in relief as the door closed behind me. I placed my bag of goodies down on the floor and went straight to the bathroom. Switching on the light, I noticed that my face was bloodied up pretty good. After taking my jacket and shirt off I saw multiple bruises running along my body. Great. That’s just great. Can’t wait to explain this to people.

I headed into my bedroom to change clothes. On a wall next to my bed was a board that held newspaper clippings. These newspaper clippings held information about the different robberies I had accomplished. They started naming me The Rouge after my first couple robberies. Cheesy as fuck right? It’s a complete reference to X-Men. I put a streak in my hair one time and everybody thinks they know me. Fuckers. I was actually really pissed off when I first heard my new nickname. I robbed the mayor’s house out of spite. Then the name started growing on me so I just call myself Rouge despite the fact that I’m probably going to get sued at one point. Yay copyrights.

My real name was Shayne. My parents liked the name since, you know, they wanted to name their son that but added a y to it so it seemed ‘less masculine’. Apparently the doctors messed up when my parents asked what gender I was. After I found that out I made everybody call me Shay. I had really thick, dark red hair with my now signature lighter red streak. Seriously why the name Rouge. The colours aren’t even fucking right. God damn the police force is full of idiots. Anyways, to compliment my lovely red hair I had leaf green eyes and a splattering of freckles on my cheeks. I had a small build but that didn’t mean I wasn’t strong. A lot of people underestimated me because of my size.

I flipped on the TV and went to the news. Sure enough I was on air again. News sure does travel fast in this city.

“—strikes again. This time robbing Mr. Geoff Ramsey, one of the founders of Roosters. Mr. Ramsey stated that The Rouge attacked him, causing him to fight back in self-defence. Police arrived shortly after only to find that The Rouge had slipped away.” Damn right I slipped away.

“Run, run as fast you can,” I whispered. “You can’t catch me I’m the gingerbread man!!” I started laughing hysterically. Oh man, being insane was great. I turned the TV off and went to my computer. It had been a while since I checked my emails and I was sure junk mail was just spilling out of it by now. One email, however, caught my eye. I opened it and found a short message.

“ _You’re playing a dangerous game Rouge. I suggest you tone it down.”_ I didn’t recognize the email address, not that it told me much. All it said was ‘mk@hotmail.com’. Could have been anyone. I ignored it and started deleting everything from my inbox. After that was finished, I had no other excuse to not go to bed so I flopped onto my mattress and curled up, falling asleep instantly.

 

I was woken up by somebody shaking me. I cracked an eye open and stared into my friend’s angry brown eyes.

“Why are you shaking me?” I whined. “Rebecca stop it! I’m tired.”

“Well you wouldn’t be if you hadn’t been gallivanting around the town stealing from one of the most powerful men in the city!” Rebecca huffed. She had been my friend through my whole spiral into madness and usually she could bring me back to sanity. The first time I had robbed somebody I went straight to her. She didn’t turn me in thankfully. Instead she tried to calm me down and get me to return the things I had taken. It didn’t work. I ended up selling those things for a lot of money and it was then I realized I could make a living doing that. Yet Becca stayed by my side the whole time, which was surprising because everybody else had given up on me a long time ago.

“Well I’m sorry but I need money.” I snapped back at her. Honestly I loved her but she never really understood.

“So get a job! Make money like normal people do!” Becca stormed out of my room, her jet black hair flying around her head. “I’m sure you could find something!”

“Rebecca I am considered insane. Anyone who looked at me would see I am not fit to work.” I explained, yet again, as I changed clothes. “Any moment I could snap and go on a killing spree and you know it.” When the doctors deemed me too dangerous to be around people I ran away. It didn’t take long for Becca to find me again though. We had always talked about one day moving to Austin, Texas and starting a new life that was away from our controlling families. When I left I kept my first name, for whatever reason I couldn’t remember, and changed my last one to Graham. I figured nobody would be able to find me. Shay was a common enough name.

“Do you realise how much danger you put yourself in?” Becca demanded as I joined her in my kitchen. “You don’t hide your face, your hair matches the description everybody knows as The Rouge. Honestly it’s like you want to be caught.”

“I don’t want to be caught! I just…” I really had no good excuse. I’m lucky nobody has caught me yet. Not that it mattered I hardly went out in public anyways. I usually had Becca get things for me and I paid her back. I leaned against the kitchen counter and sighed. “Look I know I’m being stupid but I can’t stop. Believe me I’ve tried.” Becca handed me a cup of coffee and some breakfast. If it wasn’t for her I don’t think I would function properly “And where are we headed?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. She was wearing a really nice blouse, dress pants and heels. I also noticed she had makeup on (which we never wore) and her hair was curled (which she never does).

“I have a job interview later,” Becca explained. “At Haywood Publishing?” Oh right. Haywood Publishing was a huge publishing office that had just started up but was making great success.

“Isn’t the guy who owns that a co-owner of Roosters?” I asked. Roosters was a local computer…something or other. They made computers and other gadgets that were really cool. I even used some of them in my robberies. The guys who owned it were apparently really smart and their inventions were amazing.

“Yeah,” Becca replied. “I guess he decided to branch out into other fields.” She looked at her watch and headed for the door. “Anyways, I’m going to be late if I don’t leave now. I’ll call you afterwards okay?”

“Sure.” I shrugged. I waved goodbye to her as she left and started eating the food she had given to me. Sausages and a cheese omelet. My favorite. As I ate, my mind wandered back to the email I had received last night. I went over to my computer and opened my email again, thankful that I hadn’t decided to clear my trash folder yet. I opened the email and re-read it before typing out a reply.

 _“Don’t know who you are but no need to be concerned. I know what I’m doing.”_ I hit send and sat back in my chair. Maybe it was some undercover cop who had figured out my email? Oh well they wouldn’t be able to trace that back to me right? I finished the rest of my food and downed my coffee, putting the dishes in the sink. When I returned to my computer there was another message from my mysterious friend.

 _“I’m not concerned. You keep doing what you’re doing and see where it gets you. I’m merely giving you a fair warning. One criminal to another. -MK”_ Who the fuck was MK?

 _“How can I trust you? For all I know you’re a cop.”_ Send. Instantly I got a reply.

 _“You’re right. You’ll never be able to trust me. But I am not a cop nor am I aiding them. I can tell from what the news has said that you are very sloppy in this business. You should work on that.”_ Prick. It’s been almost a year since I’ve started this and nothing has happened.

_“And I supposed you can help with that?”_

_“Well I am the best.”_

_“You’re a prick. I like you. Let’s see what you got.”_ It took a bit longer for him to reply this time. I gave up waiting and went to my living room, turning the TV on. Nothing really excited was happening so I turned Netflix on and clicked on a random movie. I wasn’t really paying attention. It had something to do with King Henry and his wife Anne. From what I could tell it seemed like a good watch. Maybe next time I can watch it when I’m less distracted. About half way through the movie my computer dinged, signalling a new message. I dragged myself off the couch and went to check it.

 _“Sorry for the late reply I had a meeting. Anyways. I am free tonight if you would like to see exactly what I have.”_ I snorted, my mind heading straight for the gutter.

 _“It’s a date. When and where?”_ Did I seriously agree to meet someone I just met over email? Hell yes.

_“There is an abandoned warehouse on McKenzie Ave. Let’s say 9?”_

_“I’ll be there.”_ After that I shut my computer off and went back to watching the movie. Now all I had to do was wait until later tonight. I glanced at the clock. Great, I had eleven hours to go. What to do, what to do? Well I had Netflix so there’s a good start. After the movie was done I decided to marathon Dr. Who because who wouldn’t right? I started at number nine and made my way up slowly. I’m not exactly sure when but somewhere in the middle of season two I nodded off. I don’t know how much time passed but the annoying ring of my phone awoke me much later.

“Hello?” I grumbled.

“Did you go back to bed again?” Becca sighed.

“No. I crashed on the couch.” I replied. “Anyways, how did the interview go?” I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

“Great! I got the job!”

“Well that’s good,” Publishing had been a dream of Becca’s for years now and I was happy she was finally doing it. “When do you start?”

“Tomorrow. I met with Ryan in person and he only asked me a few questions before saying I was hired!” Becca sounded really excited which was good. She hated her last job. When Haywood Publishing started up she quit her old job and applied for this one.

“Ryan?” I asked, yawning.

“Oh he’s the one who owns the company. He is super hot too.” She gushed.

“Becca, don’t go flirting with your boss. That never ends well.” I said.

“I never said I was going to flirt with him. I only said he was hot.” She huffed.

“Yeah whatever.” Knowing her she would be batting her eyelashes at the guy the next time she saw him.

“Anyways I was wondering if you wanted to go out and celebrate tonight? There’s a new steakhouse that opened up and I hear it’s really good.”

“Would love to but I kind of want to stay in tonight,” I decided not to tell her about the meeting later tonight. That conversation wouldn’t go well.

“Well we can order a pizza, put something on Netflix-“

“No when I mean I want to stay in I mean I have to make phone calls that you shouldn’t hear.” I had a couple of people around the city who would give an estimate of how much the stuff I stole was worth and then we would meet and do a swap. It usually worked out for all of us. It was also the perfect lie.

“Oh…” Becca said.

“Yeah I really don’t want you listening in to that. Plus I need to get rid of this stuff soon.” I looked at the bag that still sat by the door. Yeah…should probably sell that stuff tomorrow. “But hey. Saturday we can go out to the bar and have some fun.”

“Sounds like a plan. Listen I gotta get going. I already have a project Ryan wants me to edit.”

“Really?”

“It’s a test project. Just to see what I can do,” Becca explained. “Anyways I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay.” We hung up and I stretched. Glancing at the clock I saw that I had two hours before I had to meet MK so I decided to have a shower and change. The great thing about robbing in the middle of the night is you can sleep most of your day away and not care. After my shower I put on a pair of dark skinny jeans, a black tank top and my leather jacket. I had the jacket custom made so it was form fitting and had a hood big enough to hide my face. It’s what I usually wore when I went and did my ‘job’ but because of the few fights I had gotten into people were able to see my face. Oh well. I could buy a mask but that would just look stupid. Since I didn’t have a car I had to walk to the meeting point. Which was perfect because it would take me an hour to get there. The sun was starting to set and the shadows had come out to play. Honestly nothing was creepier than walking down a practically dead street with shadows everywhere.

I got to the warehouse a couple minutes early and decided to wait inside. It wasn’t hard to get in. There had been an open window that I could easily slip through. The inside was covered in a thick layer of dust and there garbage all over. Great place to meet. I was really glad I agreed to meet in an abandoned warehouse where nobody could hear me scream. I heard movement behind me and I turned around, seeing three guys walking up to me.

“Who the hell are you and why did you follow me?” I demanded.

“Whoa, calm down there sugar,” one said. “We were just wondering why a beautiful lady such as yourself would be coming here all alone.” As they got closer I could smell alcohol on them.

“None of your business.” I snapped.

“You might want to watch your tone there missy.” They started circling around me. Fantastic.

“Yeah, it’s three against one.”

The one closet to me laughed and moved even closer. “So why don’t we have some fun?”

“Go fuck yourself.” I spit in his face.

“Bitch.” He went to hit me but I grabbed his arm and twisted it behind him.

“Hey!” One of the other’s came up behind me and grabbed me around the waist, hauling me off his friend.

“You’ll pay for that!” The third one yelled. I head-butted the guy holding me and pushed away from him as he fell backwards.

“Oh come on guys. This is no way to treat a lady.” I smirked. The three men got back in a group and move towards me. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.” I watched as the leader rolled his eyes and continued towards me. “I warned you!” I said in a singsong voice. Without warning my hand shot out and caught him in the throat, causing him to start choking. Suddenly the other two lunged at me. I dodged one but the other one grabbed me, pinning my arms. I tried to kick him but he was holding me too close for me to get good leverage. He moved his face beside mine, apparently remembering me head-butting his friend.

“Guys help me!” He yelled. The one I had hit in the throat was still coughing but managed to get up. He and the other guy started forward again and I started to panic. I started to struggle even more but it didn’t seem to be working.

“Oh you are so going to pay!” The guy right in front of me started undoing his pants. Before he could get the belt off, however, he dropped to the floor. Behind him stood a man in a kilt and a suit jacket, a rock in his hand. The guy holding me threw me onto the ground and stepped towards the new comer.

“Now boys,” the man said. His voice was deep and as smooth as silk. “You are setting a horrible example here. Really you are. This is exactly why everyone has a stereotype about men being pigs.” Without warning, he lunged at the guy who was holding me, knocking him to the ground. My eyes darted to the last guy and saw him pulling out a knife. I got up quickly and ran at him. I don’t think he was expecting me to do anything so I was able to surprise him. I picked up a pipe that happened to be laying on the ground and hit him across the face with it. He went down instantly. I turned back to what was happening behind me and saw my savior knock the last guy out. I watched as he got up, panting, and readjusted his kilt. I was actually floored that this dude was wearing a kilt. A fucking kilt. What the actual fuck?

“Uhh…” I kept the pipe in my hands in case this guy tried anything. He turned around to face me and I was taken aback at how handsome he was. Light brown hair, clear blue eyes, the most kissable mouth I’d ever seen…I gave myself a mental shake. I could not be distracted right now.

“You must be Rouge,” he said. “I’m The Mad King.” I couldn’t help it. I started laughing.

“The Mad King? That’s what ‘MK’ stood for!?” I dropped the pipe and bent over because of how hard I was laughing. “Jesus Christ.” I said between giggles.

“Oh like your name is any better!” He snapped. That just made me laugh even harder. “The Rouge. Who the fuck comes up with a name like that?”

“It wasn’t my idea!” I started to calm down a bit. “The stupid police force decided to rip off X-Men because of my hair! I just…never thought of anything better. And while we’re on the subject what’s with the fucking kilt?”

“Hey don’t make fun of the kilt,” he smirked. He walked up to me and stuck his hand out. “Mad King.”

“Shay.” I said, taking his hand.

“Wow we just met and we’re already on a first name basis.”

“Hey you saved me. Least I can do is tell you my name.” I shrugged.

“You really think that’s smart?” He asked.

“I rob people for a living. I stopped being smart a long time ago.” I let go of his hand and put my hood down, combing my hair out. “So. You’re the mysterious person who somehow found my email.”

“That would be me yes,” The Mad King was looking at me strangely. I didn’t understand why though. “Tell me, has it ever occurred to you to change your hair color? Or wear a wig at least? People will be able to identify you as soon as they see you.”

“I don’t go out so I’m not worried about it.” I explained.

“Hm.” He started to circle me, muttering under his breath. I watched him closely, waiting for him to do something. “You are nothing like what I imagined.” He finally said.

“Oh?” I asked, annoyed. Everybody always said that. They always said they expected someone taller, someone who looked stronger or someone who looked intimidating. Not me.

“No. I imagined someone who wouldn’t know how to cover up their own tracks, seeing as it was so easy to find you. But not that I look at you I believe you know how to take care of yourself.” He said.

“I’ve been in hiding for over four years I know how to cover my tracks!” I snapped.

“So feisty. I like it,” The Mad King came closer to me and looked me dead in the eye. “Tell me, have you had any proper training in combat? Learned to shoot a gun?” I shook my head.

“Not really. I can fight pretty well but I’ve never used a gun.”

“Hm.” He thought for a moment, his eyes wandering down my body. “I’ll make you a deal.” Oh boy. “Come work for me. You’ll get a regular pay check so you don’t have to steal to make money, I’ll train you how to properly fight and use a gun-”

“Hey! I can fight properly!”

“-and I can help you so nobody realises who you are.”

“But…?” I knew there was something coming. Something he wanted.

“But I need help. You seem to know how to get in and out of places undetected. I could use you,” He shrugged. “I can tell you right now that you’ll be making way more money than the few trinkets you’ve been selling have gotten you.”

“When you say work for you...”

“I own a business. You’ll work there.” Oh.

“I…I can’t.” I looked away, focusing on the ground.

“Why?” He sounded confused. I guess he was thinking I was turning down the offer because I didn’t think it was good enough.

“I…am…considered insane and a danger to people so working in an environment that makes me deal with a bunch of others isn’t a good idea.” I said in a rush.

“Yeah? So am I yet I still own a business. A very successful one too. You’ll be fine. I’ll keep you by my side and make sure you stay out of trouble,” I glanced up at him and saw him smiling down at me. “Besides, you don’t act insane.”

“Neither do you,” I pointed out. “I don’t act it because I have moments of ‘clarity’, as the doctors put it. in which I’ll act normal but sooner or later my insanity will resurface. They wanted to lock me away because I become unpredictable and I almost killed someone.” The Mad King was quiet for a moment.

“Well like I said you’ll be by my side the entire time,” He waved his hand dismissively. “I’m sure I can handle you.”

“This is so weird.” I muttered.

“What is?”

“We just met not even five minutes ago and you’ve given me a job,” I replied. “That’s not weird?”

“You seem trustworthy. And from what I can tell you are harmless,” he shrugged. “You start tomorrow. I’ll send you the details later.” He started to walk away.

“That’s it? That’s all this was? You just wanted to hire me?” I yelled. “What the fuck? If I had known getting a job would have been that easy I would have done it ages ago!”

“Yeah that’s pretty much all this was. Like I said I need someone like you,” he looked over his shoulder at me. “I do hope you have nice clothes because I run a respectable business.” The Mad King waved and walk off, leaving me standing in the middle of a warehouse with three guys knocked out at my feet.

“Well fuck.”


	2. So you want me to steal what?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mad King hires Shay and has her steal something he says is important. Also Shay needs a new name.

The next morning there was an email waiting for me from my new friend. It was an address for the place he worked and what time I had to be there. It also said to tell the secretary there to just send me to his office. Fantastic. Who the hell hires some random person they just met? I rolled my eyes and hurried to get ready, calling a cab since walking was out of the question. I had a few nice clothes and I decided some black dress pants and a green blouse would do the trick. Fuck makeup because that stuff sucks. I quickly brushed my hair but left it down. I hated putting my hair up. I grabbed my purse and headed downstairs, sighing in relief that the cab was already waiting for me. I gave the driver the address and we took off through the busy streets. The building we pulled up to was not what I expected. Haywood Publishing. Okay then. I gave the driver some money and headed inside. The building was about four storeys high, all the walls made out of glass. There was a little courtyard with benches and a fountain as well. The inside was all bright and cheery and I hated it already. This was the type of place everyone faked happiness. To top it all of the secretary I was to speak to was none other than my best friend Becca.

“Good morning welcome to Hay—Shay?” Becca looked up from her computer and finally noticed me.

“I thought you were going to be publishing things not working the front desk.” I grinned.

“The girl who usually works front desk is sick today so I offered to fill in seeing as I worked as a secretary for a few years,” she shrugged. “Why are you here? And why are you dressed to impress.”

“Umm…I was told by Mr. Boss Man to meet him today. He said you would show me where his office was.” I bit my lip. The Mad King was Ryan Haywood and my best friend was working for him. This was going to be a fun day. 

“Oh…yeah. His office is this way.” She got up and led me into an elevator, pushing the fourth floor button. “He has the whole top floor for himself. Isn’t that amazing? It’s really posh in there.”

“Did you just say posh?” I giggled.

“Shut up. I can’t describe it any other way.” She playfully smacked my arm and I grinned at her. We reached the top floor and the elevator doors opened up to a hallway with a couple of doors.

“I thought you said he had the whole top floor?”

“He does but there are few rooms for the various meetings he has. His office is at the end of the hall,” I stepped out of the elevator and waved at her before the doors closed. I walked down the hallway to the two wooden double doors. I hesitated before knocking. I was probably going to regret this. Oh well. I knocked and waited for a moment. I was about to knock again when the door opened and there stood The Mad King. Except now he was Ryan Haywood. He wore a full suit this time and he actually looked pretty good.

“Oh good you made it,” he held the door open for me and I went inside. Now that I had a chance to see the room, Becca was right. It was very posh. Overstuffed leather chairs and a couch, what looked to be a fully stocked bar, and the floor was a very polished dark wood that matched the color of the walls. There was even a fucking kitchen. I wouldn’t be surprised if a bed was in a separate room. A desk sat at the far end of the room. It had the usual office shit surrounding it. “Here.” He tossed me a small box and when I looked at it I saw that it was hair dye.

“Really?” I raised my eyebrow at him.

“I told you. Your hair is a dead giveaway. I tried to get a color close to yours.” He shrugged.

“Okay.” I set the box down on a nearby table and turned to him. “So what do I call you? Mad King or Ryan?” I sat down in one of the leather chairs and was instantly overcome by how comfy it was.

“Here you will call me Ryan. When we are alone I am The Mad King,” he replied. “Now, what to call you.”

“I’m perfectly fine with Shay.” I said but he shook his head.

“No I mean when you go out and do your…thing,” Ryan walked to the windows and looked out but I don’t think he was really looking at anything. “Once you change your hair the name the police have currently given you won’t fit.”

“Why do I need a name? Can’t I be nameless?” I muttered under my breath. “Why were you named Mad King?” I asked out loud. Ryan turned towards me and sat down in the chair right across from me.

“Because I’m insane and I wear a crown when I go out,” he smirked. “I didn’t wear it last night because I didn’t know what you would do. Couldn’t let it be damaged. Also it’s like a split personality of mine. The Mad King only shows up when I’m out doing work.”

“Well I’m insane too but you don’t see me gloating about it.” I huffed. “Why is this the first time I’ve heard of you?”

“I’m very underground in my work. Nobody knows who I am and I want to keep it that way for the next little bit.”

“What do you want me to do for you?” I asked, leaning back in my chair and crossing my legs.

“I want you to steal something,” Ryan replied. “It is very important to my mission and I need it now.” He got up and headed to his desk, picking up a folder. He came back over and handed it to me. “Everything you need to know is in there.” I flipped it open and started looking through the contents.

“You want me to rob Roosters?” I asked, not looking up from the pages.

“Yes. The device I need is something that will make my life so much easier. However it is not mine to take. My good friend Jack made it but he won’t let anyone know what he did.” Ryan sighed.

“What is it?” There wasn’t a picture or anything for me to go off of. I needed to know what I was stealing.

“Before I tell you I need to know something. Can I really trust you Shay?” He asked. “Can I be sure that you won’t rat me out to the police? That everything I tell you stays between us? Not even your friend downstairs can know.” I closed the folder and looked him dead in the eye.

“You really think I’m going to waltz right into the police station? I’m someone they want behind bars,” I hissed. “I should be asking you the same questions Mad King. Who’s to say you won’t turn against me once everything is said and done?” He smirked.

“Good point. Very well,” Ryan shrugged. “What I need is a small little device. It’s a bug but it isn’t like the ones people have made before. This one is very special. It looks…well it looks exactly like a bug. I need that device Shay. There’s a remote control that goes with it. Bring these items to me.”

“Fine.” I got up to leave.

“You’re leaving?” Ryan asked, sounding slightly disappointed.

“Well yeah. I have to go get ready for this,” I waved the file folder. “I need to study the blueprints, find the best way inside, get around defenses and all that shit.”

“Oh. I was hoping we could get to know each other a little better.”

“Why? You found my email so I’m guessing you found everything else.” I pointed out.

“Yes but the name Shayne Graham only goes back so far,” Ryan rose up and stood in front of me. “In fact, it stops about four years ago. So tell me Shay, who are you running from?” I looked away but he grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him.

“Myself.” I replied and walked away. I headed to the elevators and went back down to the lobby, stopping in front of Becca. “You, me, bar, tonight. You in?”

“Shay it’s Thursday. I have work tomorrow. I can’t get drunk.” She said.

“Who said anything about getting drunk? Come on, let’s just go have some fun!” I went behind the desk and sat in the chair beside her.

“Shay I can’t. I have to go to some kind of business meeting tonight.”

“But Rebecca!” I whined.

“Shay what has gotten into you today? And why are you were you seeing Mr. Haywood?” She asked, giving me a worried look.

“I hired her.” I turned around and saw Ryan standing behind me.

“Really?” Becca looked between me and Ryan, giving me a look that said she’d be asking questions later.

“Yeah. I needed a personal assistant to help out with some things. Shay seemed like just the person for the job.” He explained. I had to hide my smirk.

“Well…that’s good. At least you’ll be working now,” Becca gave me a smile. “Which is what I should be doing. Go away.”

“Fine. Be like that. Send your best friend away in her moment of needing you the most!” I got up  
and sulked towards the door.

“I’ll come over later.” She promised.

“I’ll walk you to the door.” Ryan said, linking arms with me.

“I’m pretty sure I know where the door is _Mr. Haywood_.” I snickered.

“Yeah well you forgot this,” he handed me the hair dye. “Had to give it back to you.”

“Oh look at that. I did forget that. Thank you Ryan Haywood for taking the time to return something which I value most dearly.” I said sarcastically and started walking towards home.

“Don’t you have a car?”

“Nope! Can’t afford one.” I replied.

“Then let me drive you,” Ryan caught up to me and grabbed my hand. “We don’t want a repeat of last night do we?” I was about to decline but walking that far in high heels would have killed me. So I nodded. “Wait here.” He disappeared back into the building. A few minutes later he pulled up to the curb in the hottest looking car I’d ever seen. It was black and sleek and it looked fast. I got in and was not surprised to find leather seats. “So, where do you live?” I gave him the address and he headed in that direction. We pulled up to my building not too long after that.

“Thanks,” I said opening the door. “I’ll let you know when I do the thing.” He just nodded. I got out and closed the door, heading straight for my apartment. As soon as my door closed I went to work studying the blueprints. It was a fairly simple building. There seemed to be an easy access point on the main floor. Ryan circled which room the device would be in so that helped a lot. If I pulled this off…oh man I must have really gone around the bend to even consider doing this. Oh well. It would be fun. Plus Ryan promised me a paycheck so that made this even better. Speaking of which. I grabbed my phone and dialed a friend of mine.

“Ester is that you?” He answered.

“Yes and I’m eating chocolate so don’t bother me.” I rolled my eyes. I don’t know why but every time I called I _had_ to say that. It was dumbest thing anyone could have thought up. “Listen I have some things that I need to sell. Spring cleaning and whatnot. Care to lend a hand?”

“Sure. I’ll be there in a bit.” We hung up. I grabbed the bag filled with that Ramsey’s belongings and laid them out on the table. I had grabbed quite a few things. Some jewelry, a couple of nice baubles, some clothes…really I grabbed anything I thought my friend could sell. There was a knock on my door and I went to open it.

“Saul.” I greeted and let him in. I had met Saul when I first started robbing. I needed a place to sell the things I stole and I had found Saul right off the bat. He agreed to a deal with me. He asked no questions and I gave him the pick of the crop. I think Saul was part of a gang. He had a symbol on the back of his neck I never saw anywhere else. He had shaved his head and was growing a huge beard. He also worked out every chance he got so the guy was built like a house.

“Alright what are we working with?” He said to himself, looking everything over. “You know…I think I could use everything you got. What do you say to a thousand?”

“Sounds good to me.” I shrugged. Saul nodded and pulled out a huge wad of money.

“Here.” I took the money and went to hide it in my room. “So. What have you been up to Miss Shay?” He asked when I came back out.

“Same old same old. Hey Saul? What would be a good name for me? ‘The Rouge’ is wearing a little thin.” Saul gave me a once over before shrugging.

“I don’t know. How about Night Walker.”

“Night Walker?” I snorted.

“Yeah sure. You always stalk your prey and then attack at night,” Saul grabbed the things on the table and headed for the door. “Hey you asked my opinion. I gave it. Later.” He left and I was once again stuck on a name. I threw myself down on the couch, hoping to catch some sleep before headed out.

 

A constant, annoying ringing woke me up. Again. I got up and grabbed my phone.

“What?” I snapped.

“Hello to you too.” Becca’s voice came through.

“Sorry,” I sighed. “What’s up?”

“Well I would love to know how you managed to land a job at Haywood Publishing,” She replied. “Seeing as you went on a huge rant about how you couldn’t work anywhere.”

“After you left I checked the place out and say he was hiring a personal assistant. I contacted him, we got talking and he set up the appointment. He knows my little…problem and says it’s no big deal.” I lied. I could lie to her so easily and it scared me.

“Oh.”

“You sound upset. What’s wrong?” I curled up on the couch again and waited for her reply.

“Nothing! You’re hearing things,” Now the thing with Becca is that I could always tell when she was lying but I figured now wasn’t the time to push her. “Anyways I have to get going. I have that meeting in about five minutes.”

“Okay…” I said slowly. Before I could say anything else she hung up. Well alrighty then. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost time to head over to Roosters. I headed for my room but paused as the hair dye caught my eye. Biting my lip, I looked at the clock again and decided that I had enough time. About half an hour later I came out of the shower with vibrant red hair. There. Now the cops will have to look for another name. I quickly dried myself and changed into my usual dark jeans, black tank top and leather jacket. I headed to the door, slipping on a pair of combat boots and tying my hair back. The one and only time I ever tied my hair back was when I did jobs.

When I got outside it was dark out, which was good. I could get to the building without being noticed. Becca once questioned me why I wore all black and I told her it helped me blend in with the shadows so I wouldn’t be seen. I arrived at the Roosters building and did a walk around, making sure nobody was outside. Once I was satisfied, I headed to one of the windows on the main floor. Ryan’s notes had told me they always leave this one cracked open just enough to let some air in. I was able to get it open all the way and I slipped in silently, landing and on the floor with hardly any sound. Okay so this was the main floor on the east, closest to the main entrance. I wanted the second floor. I left the room I was currently in, checking that there was nobody outside. I cursed when I saw cameras however.

“Fuck it.” I muttered to myself. My hood was up, nobody would see my face. I followed the hallway until I found the stairs. Perfect. I went up as quietly as I could, again making sure nobody was around when I reached the second floor. I pulled up a mental image of the blueprints. The room I wanted was the second last one on the right…I turned towards it and peeked in. There. Right in the middle of the fucking room. Surely there was some kind of alarm system right? So I’d have, what, a minute or two before cops showed up? Plenty of time! I walked right up to the device and grabbed both it and its remote, shoving them into my bag. No alarms yet. I was about to leave the room when I had an idea. I grabbed a pen and paper off of the nearby desk and scribbled a quick note, leaving it exactly where the device was. Now I had to get out of there. As soon as I stepped out of the room, alarms went off.

“Well…that was delayed.” I could hear footsteps running towards me so I made a quick decision and sprinted for the stairs. I flew down then to the first floor, not caring how much noise I made. They already knew I was here so there was no point in being quiet. I left the building the same way I got in and I took off, heading down different alleyways. I could already hear sirens screaming towards the building. I kept running until I was sure I was far enough away. Once I was certain I was safe, I leaned against a building to catch my breath. I did it. I fucking did it. I stole from a high tech office!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what was said in the note will be later revealed in the next chapter. Anyways a lot of things is happening in this chapter and I can't wait to get started on the next. Soooo many ideas! Also I alternate between Becca and Rebecca because I do that with my friend a lot and it's sticking in the writing. I felt like it got confusing at one point and I wrote it so yeah. Also does anyone know who to make italics? It won't copy over from word :( I'm using 'also' a lot in this note im sorry


	3. So that happened...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So Shay stole the little device Ryan wanted without a problem. Ryan finds Shay later descending into madness and tries to help bring her back to sanity. One thing leads to another and Shay finds herself in some trouble with Becca.

“Oh fuck.” I whispered and I started to laugh. I mean I started to really laugh. The kind of laugh that let’s others know you’re insane. It was hysterical and it wouldn’t stop. I don’t know how long I stood there, laughing like a lunatic, but a car pulled up beside me. It took me a moment to figure out it was Ryan’s. I stopped laughing but I couldn’t help the grin on my face. The window rolled down and Ryan looked at me, an eyebrow raised.

“Did you get it?” He asked. He was wearing his crown tonight. It looked to be pure gold with little gems going around it.

“Yup!” I sang and held my bag up. “I got it!” I started giggling again and Ryan looked concerned.

“Are you okay?”

“Nope!” I shook my head.

“Get in.” He sighed. I skipped over to the passenger side and slid into the car, setting the bag at my feet.

“Should have told you. My crazy side tends to come out when I do a job,” I giggled. “Although it also comes out when I’m mad. Or sometimes it just decides to show up! Anyways how did you find me?”

“I was watching the building,” Ryan explained. “I saw you go in, heard the alarms go off, and saw you come out. I figured you’d stop somewhere so I just drove up and down the nearby streets.” We drove for a bit before stopping in front of Haywood Publishing.

“Why are we here?” I asked. Ryan pulled into a hidden garage and got out of the car, walking around to open the door for me. I picked the bag up and got out of the car. “Ryan?” He grabbed my hand and dragged me to the elevators, pressing floor four. “Ryan?” I sang out his voice and he suddenly spun towards me, crushing my body up against the elevator wall.

“Stop calling me that.” He said through clenched teeth.

“…Mad King?” I tried again. He nodded and let me go. We reached the fourth floor and headed to his office.

“Give me the bag.” He demanded. I raised my eyebrows but said nothing. I could feel the craziness going away. I always liked to think it was a darkness that slowly covered my mind and then slowly creeped back to the shadows. The Mad King pulled the device out of the bag and grinned. “Beautiful.” Now that I could see it better, it did look like a tiny little bug. It was actually kind of cute. Ryan ran his fingers over the small little device, a look of awe on his face.

“Should I leave you two alone…?” I smirked. He just glared at me. The Mad King turned towards his desk and placed the bug in the middle. I took the chance to try and quietly sneak away, not wanting to be here any longer.

“Where are you going?” The Mad King demanded, turning back around to face me. “You aren’t exactly right in the head just yet. You think going out is wise?” He started stalking towards me, something new gleaming in his eyes.

“I…well I mean you don’t need me anymore. I got your little toy and now I want to go to bed.” I watched as he continued towards me, stopping so only an inch of space separated us. I could feel his body heat radiating off of him. All signs of the guy this morning was gone. What was once playful blue eyes were now cold and calculating and a small smirk was playing at his lips.

“I want to know something.” He said quietly. He took my arm and led me to the couch, forcing me to sit down beside him. “Why are you hiding?”

“What do you mean?” I shifted uncomfortably. I was starting to feel saner now but there was still something lingering.

“I’ve already told you. Shay Graham only goes back four years. Why are you hiding?” He asked again.

“When the doctors told my parents I was going insane they…they said that I had to be put away. I was…am a danger to people. At first they thought it was depression. I would go quiet for days, hardly eating and never going outside. Then I started throwing fits. I’d break things and I’d start screaming. My parents tried to get me to talk to a therapist but it didn’t help. It wasn’t until they found me curled up in a ball mumbling incoherent things that they took me to an actual doctor.” I sighed. “The doctor we saw said they had to run some tests and in the meantime my parents were to monitor me, make sure I didn’t hurt myself and all that shit. I started getting tired with everyone constantly watching me. I acted up more often and then one day I just completely snapped. I woke up with this _need_ to do something. I wanted out of the house, away from all the stares. I think I was going to go over to Rebecca’s house. I told my parents I was heading out for a bit but they wouldn’t let me so I…”

“You what?” The Mad King put his arm around me to try and stop me from shaking so much. It was a small comfort. The memories of what I did that day were starting to resurface and the darkness was coming back at full force. I tried to push it away but I couldn’t help it. Every time I thought about what happened I always lost control of myself. The Mad King was starting to see that. “It’s okay Shay. You’re okay. Try to stay with me.”

I took a deep breath before continuing. “I had bought a small pocket knife. I was getting paranoid and it gave me some comfort to know I had a way to protect myself. When my parents said I couldn’t go out, I tried to push past them. My dad he…he tried to drag me back up to my room, tried to calm me down and I was so tired of everyone acting like I was broken. Before I knew it the knife was in my hand and my dad’s blood was on it. I had stabbed him. My mom started screaming and ran to the phone. I just stared down at my father and I felt…nothing. Absolutely nothing. After that the doctors wanted to put me away but I didn’t like the idea of living behind glass as they examined me.” I thought back to that day. It almost seemed like it was yesterday. “I ran to Becca’s house and the minute she saw me she packed up her car and we left. We haven’t looked back since.”

“But your parents have been trying to find you?”

“I don’t know. I highly doubt it,” I shrugged. “Not that it matters anyways. Becca and I have been doing pretty good on our own.”

“Shay I am going to make you a promise okay? As long as you work for me I will do everything in my power to protect you. If your…madness starts coming back I want you to come straight to me. The last thing we need is you hurting someone.” He tried to brush some hair away from my face but I moved away.

“I usually call Becca. She’s the only one who can calm me down.” I said.

“Yeah and then the day will come where you can’t be calmed down and you hurt her,” I looked over at him and he shrugged. “It’s happened to me. Of course when I get angry I punch people. Not stick knifes in them.” I don’t know how it happened but one moment we were sitting beside each other and the next I was pining to the couch with my hand around his throat.

“Don’t test me Haywood,” I growled. I tried to stop what I was doing but it felt like I was watching a movie. I couldn’t control anything. “I don’t care who you are I will kill you.” Instead of pushing me off, however, his arms circled around me.

“That fire in you is amazing.” He whispered, arms tightening their hold so I was crushed up against him. Before I could stop him he crashed his lips to mine, putting everything he had into the kiss. I was frozen for a moment before I kissed him back. My hands slipped away from his neck and tangled in his hair, pulling him closer. His lips were soft and warm and they moved expertly against mine. I, on the other hand, have never kissed anyone before so I was failing miserably in that department however that wasn’t stopping Ryan. He lifted me up and laid me down on the couch, his body covering mine. His hands started roaming everywhere, searching every bit of skin he could find. Fire was making its way through my veins and pooling in my belly. Ryan’s hands slipped underneath my tank top, his fingers tracing soft trails along my stomach.

Ryan started tugging on my jacket and I leaned forward a bit so he could remove it as well as my shirt. He tossed it to the side, his eyes never leaving mine as he dipped his head down and nipped at my throat. I stifled a moan as his mouth moved further down, peppering kisses everywhere he could reach. He brought his mouth back up to mine and I took the opportunity to remove my hands from his hair and started to undo the buttons on his shirt. I pushed the shirt off his shoulders and started exploring his body. He was so warm and hard under my hands and I started getting dizzy from the lack of oxygen after kissing for so long. Ryan’s hands wandered down to my jeans and I lifted my hips so it’d be easier to get rid of them. In a moment my pants and my underwear were being thrown across the room.

“God you’re beautiful.” He whispered. His eyes were dancing as he lowered himself between my legs. My breathing hitched as he started slowly kissing his way up from my thighs. He held my gaze as his tongue flicked out and quickly licked its way up from my opening to the bundle of nerves at the top, causing me to moan and close my eyes. I could feel Ryan smile against my skin as he did it again and again.

“R-Ryan.” I moaned. He finally stopped teasing me and started to flick his tongue faster over me. My hands moved down to his hair, pressing him closer. I cried out as he gently inserted a finger. He hummed in appreciation, causing a shiver to run through me. “Oh god…Ryan…I’m gonna…” Before I could come, Ryan moved away, smirking as I groaned in frustration.

“Oh don’t worry baby we’ll get there.” he purred. He kissed a path up my stomach to my mouth before leaving the couch.

“Where are you going?” I demanded.

“I’m getting something!” He laughed.

“You know it’s very rude to leave a girl when she’s on the verge of an orgasm.” I huffed. Ryan came back a minute later. He quickly got his jeans and underwear off, leaving me to marvel at the beauty of him with no clothes on. When my eyes made it back to his, he held up his hand a showed me the condom he went to go get. I watched as he slipped it on before climbing back over me. I pulled his head down and kissed him, my hands roaming over every part of him I could touch. I could feel Ryan teasing my entrance before pushing in. Pain shot through me for a moment and I gasped. Oh yeah…probably should have warned him…

“Shay?” He whispered against my neck.

“Mmhmm?” My eyes were screwed shut as I attempted to adjust to him filling me.

“Are you a virgin?”

“Mmhmm…” I heard him chuckle as he kissed my neck.

“Guess we’re going slowly then.” He said as he started to thrust into me. The pain went away after a moment, being replaced by pleasure as he hit a certain spot that felt _really fucking good._ “Mmmm…so tight.” Ryan panted. He started moving a bit faster and I couldn’t help the moan that slipped from my lips. I gripped his arms and lost myself in the feeling of him inside me.

“Ryan…” I moaned. I could feel myself getting closer again. “Ryan please.” He reached between our bodies and brushed his thumb against my clit, making jump. “Ryan!” I cried. He did it again but with more force and he started moving his hips faster, his thrusts becoming erratic. Ryan dipped his head down and took my nipple between his lips, alternating from sucking and licking. “Oh _fuck--_ ” I arched against him as wave after wave of pleasure washed over me. Ryan kept slamming into me, riding my orgasm out before allowing himself his own release. He bit down on my neck as he came, a strangled groan escaping him. We lay there for a moment, gasping for breath.

“You…are…absolutely amazing.” Ryan moved himself off of me and slipped himself in-between me and the couch, his arms winding around me and pulling me against his chest.

“As comfortable as I am right now is there a bed we could possibly transfer to? I don’t feel like falling off the couch.” I was suddenly lifted up bridal style and Ryan was walking towards a door behind his desk. When he opened it, I was met with a king sized bed sitting in the middle of one of the most luxurious room I’ve ever seen. There was a huge, flat screen TV built into the wall, a fucking chandler hung from the ceiling and I swear the carpet was so soft that I could have slept on that. “You like to flaunt your money, don’t you?” I laughed. Ryan looked around the room and shrugged.

“I’ve got to put it somewhere,” He said as he laid us down on the bed. “Don’t want people wondering why I have so much money sitting in one place. I only use this if I can’t leave the office until late. Don’t worry. In a few years you’ll be living like this too.”

“Oh really?” I smirked.

“Well…yeah. I’m sure there are tons of places we can rob,” Ryan said through a yawn. “Banks, jewelry stores…” Ryan trailed off. I looked up at him and saw that he had fallen asleep. Wow…that had been quick. I thought over his words as I lay there. He had said “we”. Meaning he was planning on keeping me around for a while.

“Huh.” I whispered before falling asleep myself.

 

The next morning I woke up alone. I sat up and noticed my clothes at the end of the bed with a note on top.

“ _Shower has fresh towels. I’m just outside if you need anything. –MK”_ He really loved calling himself Mad King. I walked over to the bathroom and flicked on the light, again amazed at how much money was spent making this place. There was a bathtub and a shower in the room as well as a giant counter with two sinks and a huge mirror. Two sinks. Why the hell would he need _two?_ I will never understand that man.

Shaking my head, I stepped into the shower and turned it on, almost yelping with how cold it was at first. The water quickly warmed and I quickly cleaned myself. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me, heading back out to the bedroom for my clothes. I dried myself off and slipped my clothes back on. Taking a deep breath, I walked out to the office and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Becca.

“Shay?!” She was standing in front of Ryan’s desk, her hand outstretched, offering Ryan a folder. Guess I had interrupted a meeting or something. Whoops.

“Oh…hey…Becca…forgot you worked here.” I greeted lamely and then winced at how dumb I sounded. “Umm….” I realised what this looked like and really there was no excuse to give.

“Well this is awkward.” Ryan spoke up. I glanced over and saw that he was grinning. He wasn’t even hiding it! He was just sitting there, looking between the two of us and grinning!

“I...uh…anyways here’s the story I edited.” Becca handed him the folder and then turned around, leaving quickly.

“Well then,” I sighed. “That’s going to be a fantastic conversation for later.” I ran a hand through my hair. How would I explain this? I couldn’t just come out and say ‘Hey I’m sleeping with our boss!’ and expect her to be fine. I felt hands slide around my waist as Ryan pulled me against him, crashing his lips into mine.

“Mmm…it is taking all of my self-control not to drag you back into the bedroom.” He whispered against my lips.

“I think from now on, any fucking that happens is going to happen at your actual house.” I pushed him away and started for the door.

“Where are you going?” He pouted.

“To fix a mess.” I threw over my shoulder. I headed for the elevator and went down to the lobby. I didn’t know where Becca’s office was so I had to ask the girl at the front desk if she could point me in the right direction. Turns out Becca’s office was on the second floor so back to the elevator I went. I followed the directions the lady gave me and found myself in front of a door that read ‘R. Stewart’. I knocked on the door and waited until she opened it.

“Oh…it’s you.” She stepped aside so I could enter.

“Well that makes me feel loved,” I joked. She didn’t smile. “Listen…what you saw was um…”

“I know what it was Shay.” I winced at the tone of her voice.

“You sound really upset.”

“Of course I’m upset! You just slept with the guy I like!” She burst.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa since when did you start liking him?” I asked. I remember her calling him hot but it didn’t sound like she was that interested. “And anyways he is not the kind of guy you want to get mixed up with Becky. Trust me. You could do way better than him!”

“Oh I’m sure. You aren’t just saying that so you can have him I suppose?” She laughed. “Give me a break Shay.”

“I’m serious!” I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall. “You want me to back off? Fine I’ll back off. Last night was a mistake. I wasn’t right in the head. Something…happened and he found me and one thing led to another and I didn’t exactly have control!”

“Speaking of something happening,” Becca suddenly said. “Someone broke into Roosters last night. Who could that have been?” She gave me a pointed look.

“Someone with a death wish?” I shrugged. “What makes you think it was me?”

“The note,” Becca replied. “’It’s not Rouge anymore’? Dead giveaway Shay.”

“I didn’t think they’d release it to the public so soon.” I shook my head. “Honestly, releasing it to the public is stupid.”

“So what’s your name now?”

“Are we really talking about this at your work?” I demanded.

“Why not? You seem comfortable enough sleeping with Ryan here. Discussing your extracurricular activities shouldn’t be a problem!” She snapped. Okay so we’re still on that subject.

“I don’t know what you want me to say Becca! I am sorry I accidently slept with him.” We glared at each other for a moment, neither one of us wanting to back down.

“Can you leave please?” She finally said, turning away from me. “I have work to do.”

“Fine.” I shrugged and left. I pulled my cell out and called a taxi because there was no way I was going to walk halfway across town just to get home. I didn’t have to wait too long for the cab, which I was happy about. I hated waiting for things. As soon as I got home I practically tore my clothes off and got into bed, content on just sleeping the day away. I’d call Becca after she was done work and apologize again. Sooner or later she’d forgive me, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hinted at the new name for Shay and I was going to put it in this chapter but then I decided to wait until Shay saw the news report on the TV. Anyways things get a little hot and heavy in this chapter....yeah not much more I can say on that :P Enjoy!


	4. Me, Myself, and My Insane Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shay is struggling to ignore her fears of being alone and decides to go for a walk to clear her mind. Where she ends up and is not where she expected but oh well.

Wrong. I called Becca when I woke up and she wouldn’t even answer. I sent her a few texts and left a few voicemails in case she was busy but still…my paranoia started to show up.

_She hates you now._

No she doesn’t.

_You just slept with the guy she has the hots for. Why wouldn’t she hate you?_

Shut up.

_Honestly you’re a failure at everything. Just give up already._

_Wonder what Ryan is thinking right now? He’s probably regretting last night. Probably thinking he’s had better sex than that._

Oh my god shut the fuck up.

I decided I couldn’t stay in my apartment any longer so I changed into a pair of jeans a t-shirt and my leather jacket and headed out. It wasn’t that late but the sun was starting to set. I didn’t really have a destination in mind, I just wanted some air. Being alone sucked. I tried to call Becca again but she still wouldn’t pick up. I kept wandering aimlessly for a bit, not really paying attention to where I was going until a familiar building popped into view.

“God damn it,” I muttered. I had walked right back to Haywood Publishing. The one place I didn’t want to be. How does one walk halfway across a city and not even realise it? Sighing, I was about to turn back around when I glanced up. Ryan’s office light was still on. I bit my lip but shrugged and headed towards the buildings entrance. The door was unlocked so I let myself in and headed for the elevator, pushing the button for floor four. I walked to the end of the hallway and knocked on the door. At first nothing happened so I knocked again. Maybe he just forgot to turn the light off? But then why would the front door be unlocked? Suddenly the door opened and Ryan stood there wearing no clothes and a towel wrapped around his waist.

“Do you always answer the door like that?” I asked, my gaze raking up his exposed flesh.

“Do you always come over uninvited?” He sneered. Well okay then.

“No but I somehow found myself here and I figured I’d ask you some questions.” I crossed my arms.

“Yes well I don’t exactly feel like talking to you right now.” He was about to close the door but I shoved my foot forward, stopping him.

“You’re mad. Why are you mad?” I pushed past him and let myself in the room and was not expecting what I saw. It looked like a tornado had been through here. Papers were lying everywhere, the furniture was flipped over, and his computer had somehow made it to the other end of the room. “Umm…bad day?”

“I guess you could say it was an _accident_.” I turned to face him. I was really confused as to why he was so angry right now until his words registered. Accident…

 _“Last night was a mistake…I don’t know what you want me to say Becca. I’m sorry I accidently slept with him”_ Ah yes…my conversation from earlier. But…how did he find out? Ryan suddenly reached into the pocket of my jacket and pulled something out. I glanced at it and realised it was the bug I had stolen last night.

“You son of a bitch,” I glared at him. “Why?”

“Had to make sure it worked,” Ryan shrugged. “Thought you would be a great candidate to try it out. And I was right. Found out quite a lot!” I slapped him. Ryan’s head snapped back and I was almost happy to see a red mark starting to form.

“Don’t you ever fucking do that again,” I hissed. “If I’m going to work for you then there are some lines that need to be drawn. I know people who would kill me if they ever found out our conversations were heard.” I was so glad I called Saul the other day. If he ever found out that there had been a bug on me…I didn’t even want to think about what he’d do. “I told you not to test me Haywood and I meant it. If I _ever_ think that my life is threatened I won’t hesitate to take that threat out.” We were silent for a moment, both of us fuming.

When Ryan did speak, I was surprised at how quiet his voice was. “Do you really think it was a mistake?”

“What?” I saw him go from a murderous rage to sad in a second. Jesus this guy had more mood swings than I did.

“Last night…what we did…do you really regret it?” He asked again. I don’t think he realised it but he was giving me hard-core puppy dog eyes and it was taking everything I had not to melt.

“I…” I sighed and looked at the ground. “No. No I do not regret last night.” I heard Ryan sigh in relief and suddenly I was in his arms and he was _hugging me_. I stood there awkwardly for a second before wrapping my arms around him. “Wait so…did you destroy the whole office because of what you heard?” Ryan winced.

“I have anger issues okay?” He mumbled and I laughed. “You are overdressed you know that?” He suddenly stated. I pushed him away.

“Nope. Not happening. I came here for a reason…I think.”

“You think?” He asked, following me to the couch.

“Well I was kind of lost in my own world and somehow found myself here. But I do have some questions.” I sat down and Ryan sat beside me, his arm hanging off the back of the couch.

“Ask away.”

“What’s your plan? You need that bug for something, I just can’t figure out what.”

“That bug is to help me do the most amazing heist ever,” Ryan replied, his eyes glinting and a grin forming on his lips. “I plan on creating the most powerful gang this city has ever seen, my dear. Once everything is in place I will strike.”

“Strike what?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.

“When I have enough guys, I’ll split them into three teams. All three teams with be hitting three different banks at the same time. While they’ve got the cops distracted, you and me, we’re going for Roosters.”

“You want to heist your own workplace?!” I laughed. The crazy side of me was loving this plan. “Don’t you have access to everything there already?”

“Not everything,” Ryan shrugged. “Geoff, the one you stole from the night I first contacted you? Well him and Gavin have been working on something. Apparently everybody else but me know what it is.”

“You want to break into Roosters and find out what they’re working on.” I repeated. “How do you know it isn’t a birthday gift or something?”

“It’s not a birthday gift or something,” Ryan sneered. “For the past few years the company has been getting orders. I’m not allowed to look at these orders and I’m never told why. However I did accidently see one a few months back. I didn’t recognise the name on the order but I did recognise what they wanted.”

“What was it?”

“Well to any random on the street the order list would look like random parts, which they are. However, these parts together make…well they can make a small put powerful bomb.” Ryan thought for a moment. “A bomb that size would be perfect for breaking into vault doors now that I think about it….”

“Focus Ryan.” I poked him.

“Hm? Oh…sorry,” he shook his head. “Anyways if that’s the kind of thing our secret buyer is after, I’m curious as to what else he wants and what he means to do with all of it. I think it’s some kind of mob boss or something. Who knows? Maybe he won’t use them unless under the right circumstances.”

“Do you remember the address on the order?” I asked.

“No…actually come to think of it I don’t think there was an address,” Without warning Ryan wrapped his arms around me and pulled me onto his lap. “Can we stop talking now?” He pouted, nuzzling into my neck. “I want to do things to your body.” His teeth grazed my skin, sending shivers through me. “I want to fuck you until you pass out.” His hands slid under my shirt and started to squeeze my breasts. I could already feel his hardness through the towel and I pushed against it. He groaned and it didn’t take long after that for my clothes to come off.

“Bedroom.” I panted. Ryan stood up and I wrapped my legs around him tightly so I wouldn’t go crashing into the ground. When we were about half way there, however, Ryan’s phone went off. “Ignore it?” He looked tempted to do so but gave me an apologetic smile and set me down. I sighed and headed for the bedroom.

“Hello?” Ryan answered. There was a pause before he swore. “Do I have to be there? ...Yes I’m busy right now….alright, alright calm down. Yeah….yeah okay. Fine” He hung up and came into the bedroom. “Sorry but that was Geoff. Apparently we have to have a meeting right this second about what happened last night.”

“They couldn’t have had the meeting earlier today?”

“Well they didn’t have last night’s footage until now,” he gave me a pointed look. “Almost all of the cameras saw you Shay.”

“Yeah well that’s what happens when I break into a place with cameras,” I replied. “A little warning would have been nice.”

“Anyways, the cops already know who they are looking for because of that lovely little note you left,” Ryan started going through the dresser, pulling clothes out and dressing quickly. I got up and went out to get my clothes.

“Ah yes. Rebecca told me they already released what was on that.” I called over my shoulder.

“Not all of it. Only the first bit, where you said ‘It’s not Rouge anymore.’” Ryan came out wearing a suit that looked extremely good on him. I couldn’t help but stare as he walked towards me. “What else was on that note?”

“A new name.” I shrugged, quickly putting my clothes on.

“What name?” Ryan’s arms slipped around me and pulled me against him.

“Well…I was thinking…when I was walking to Roosters last night I remembered a conversation I had with Becca a while back. She asked why I wear all dark clothing and I told her it helps me blend in with the shadows. So I have decided to call myself Shadow.” I watched as Ryan tried really hard to fight the smile that was threatening to show itself.

“S-Shadow,” He snorted. “That’s umm…that’s a good name…”

“It’s still better than Mad King.” I pouted.

“Whatever you say,” he gave me a quick kiss and then took my hand. “Come on. I’ll drive you home.” We headed down to the garage and got in his car. As we drove to my house, my earlier fears were coming back.

_Becca still hasn’t called you back. Wonder if she’s cursing your name?_

Don’t start this again.

 _You almost fucked the guy she likes_ again _! Even after you said it wouldn’t happen anymore. You’re not good at keeping promises._

He started it.

_You could have said no._

I don’t want to say no.

_That’s why Becca will hate you. You can’t control yourself. A cute guy notices you and right away you fall head over heels. Remember Brandon?_

_He was cute wasn’t he? Didn’t take long for you two to get together. Big mistake. Maybe Ryan is the same?_

No he isn’t. Ryan is better than Brandon.

_He’s insane! Just like you are! Who’s to say what he’s capable of!_

He _won’t_ hurt me.

_Are you sure?_

“Shay? We’re here.” I was shaken from my own thoughts and I looked over at Ryan. He looked concerned.

“Oh…sorry. Was lost in thought.” I laughed weakly.

“I know. I had been calling your name for a few minutes.” He smirked.

“Sorry…” I blushed. I undid my seatbelt and went to get out of the car but his hand caught mine.

“Wait,” I turned back around and suddenly his lips were on mine. I instantly melted into the kiss as his hand snaked around my head, tangling in my hair. When we pulled apart, we were both panting and I could see he wanted more. “I don’t work tomorrow. Can I come pick you up? We could go somewhere nice.”

“Sure.” I nodded. He kissed me again before letting me out of the car. I watched as he drove off and then turned to head into my apartment and I froze. Rebecca was standing there looking at me, and I could tell by her face she had seen everything.

_Way to go idiot._

Oh just shut the fuck up already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so Shay is basically talking to herself during this. Her mind is turning against her and that little voice in her head is her own. Anyways, this chapter is starting to get into where the story picks up a bit more. Hope you enjoy!


	5. What a crazy, crazy world we live in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Becca comes over to talk and Shay meets Ryan's coworkers for the first time. Well this should be fun.

Rebecca and I stood there for a moment, staring at each other. I couldn’t tell if she was upset or not, her expression was blank. I finally stepped forward and opened the door, holding it long enough for her to either walk away or come in. She decided to come in. I sighed in relief and headed into my apartment.

“So what happened to it never happening again?” Becca asked.

“Technically nothing happened tonight,” I began. “We were just talking and he drove me home.”

“Are you guys….a thing?” Becca wouldn’t look me in the eyes. She went over to my couch and sat down. I followed.

“I…don’t know. We haven’t talking about what’s going on between us,” I replied. Becca nodded. “Are you…I mean do you….I…” I really did not know what to say. I was worried this was going to completely ruin everything between us. “I fucked up. I know it and you know it and I am really, _really_ sorry. I can’t take back what’s been done but I-”

“Stop,” Becca held up her hand. “Look I’ve been thinking. Even though I want to hate you for this I can’t bring myself to it. If he would rather be with you then fine. I won’t…get in the way.”

“Becca I really did not mean for this to happen. I wasn’t thinking clearly and I don’t know what came over me I just--”

“Shay enough. I know, okay? That other side of you…does things without you really wanting it to. I can’t blame you for that. And hey, if Ryan still likes you even though you’re bat shit crazy then I don’t want to take that away from you.” Becca gave me a small smile and grabbed my hand. “I know you’ve been giving yourself hell over what happened. I can see it in your eyes. I just want you to know that I’m not going to abandon you. Okay?”

“Yeah okay,” I nod. “Do you want to hang out for a bit? We could order some pizza and marathon Harry Potter like we used to.”

“Fine. Just don’t say how hot Daniel is every five minutes.” Becca laughed.

“I do not say it every five minutes! More like every ten minutes…” I mumble. I grabbed my phone and ordered two large pizzas and a bottle of coke. While we were waiting for the pizza, I popped the first movie in and we settled down. It had been awhile since we’ve done this. Hanging out, eating pizza and watching movies. The pizza didn’t take long to arrive and I got up to pay for it, grabbing a huge bag of cookies off my counter and a few cups as I headed back to the living room. I set the pizza down and we both dug in. Pizza was the one food I that was always a comfort to us. When Becca went through her first break up I showed up at her house with two large cheese pizzas and a bunch of candy. I think I almost killed her that night with how much sugar she had but she didn’t seem to mind. Pizza was also the only food we could eat our weight in and still be hungry afterwards. It made no sense but we weren’t complaining.

“Shay can I ask you something?” Becca turned towards me. We were about halfway through the third movie, the pizza and the cookies long gone.

“What’s up?” I turned down the volume a bit.

“You said to stay away from Ryan. That he wasn’t who he says he is. Why?” Oh shit I did say that didn’t I? And I promised Ryan I wouldn’t say anything…ah fuck it. It’s Becca.

“I—Hang on,” I ran to my room and changed my clothes. I was not going to trust that Ryan didn’t try and sneak another fucking bug on me. I came back and Becca raised her eyebrow.

“You needed to change for this?” She snickered.

“Shut up it’ll make sense later,” I settled back down on the couch, folding my legs under me. “Okay so I didn’t go online and see that Ryan was looking for someone.”

“Oh?” I start telling her about the emails I was getting the night I told her I was staying in I actually went to go meet him. I told her about Ryan giving me information on how to sneak into Roosters and what to get from there. As I talked, Becca bit her lip and worry was evident on her face. When I finished speaking, she was quiet for a moment.

“So Ryan…is planning on committing crimes…like you do.” She said slowly.

“On a much larger scale but yes,” I replied. “Look I think he’s as crazy as me. Both of us have the same…traits…when it comes to our insanity. I was not kidding when I said to stay away from him.”

“You weren’t supposed to tell me were you?” Becca asked quietly. I shook my head. “Then why do it?”

“Because you are my best friend and I wanted you to know who you’re really working for. If you can help it, don’t even be alone with him. He is unpredictable and dangerous.”

“So are you.” Becca pointed out.

“Yes but I….I mean I would never….I…” She’s right. I’m probably more dangerous. The only time Ryan acted out was this morning. Other than that he’s been pretty chill.

“Maybe he is what you need,” Becca shrugged. “Someone who understands what you’re going through and calm you down.”

“You calm me down.” I said quietly.

“Yeah but you’ve said multiple times that there is no way of knowing what you might do if I can’t. Shay you almost killed your own father, you refuse to get help of any kind and you lock yourself away and steal from people to make a living. As much as I hate to say this, Ryan being crazy might actually…help.” She shrugged.

“How exactly will hanging out with a crazy guy who, like me, wants to steal shit help? If anything it will be the exact opposite and by this time next month we’ll be fucking mob bosses who run the city!” I replied. “How is that supposed to help? And why are you laughing!?” I yelled.

“Cuz I’m imagining you trying to be a mob boss,” she snorts. “I don’t think you’d be very good at it. If anything you’d call me to do everything boring.”

“Hey you are talking to a future ruler of gangs. Play your cards right and you might be best friend to the most powerful person in this city. Imagine all the perks!” I laughed and she stuck her tongue out at me.

“Oh yeah. Fancy dinners, new apartment, new clothes…wait…yeah become a mob boss this is sounding fun.” We started laughing uncontrollably. We turned back to the movie and we made it until halfway through the fifth one before we both ended up passing out.

 

“Awe ain’t this cute?” I cracked an eye open and saw Saul standing over me. I had someone found my way to the floor last night. I glanced over and saw Becca still sleeping on the couch.

“Saul? The fuck are you here for?” I yawned and sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

“I heard of your little adventure. Figured you’d have something for sale.” He shrugged.

“Well I don’t,” I got up and started pushing him to the door. “You know the rules. Don’t come over unless I call.”

“Who’s your friend?” He tried peeking around my shoulder.

“No one you need to concern yourself with.” I snapped. When it came it women, Saul usually stuck to one night stands. If he did stay with someone a bit longer, she usually ended up heartbroken. Didn’t need Becca going through that. “Is there anything else you needed?” I asked before I closed the door in his face.

“Yeah. Think you could score me something shiny? I’ve got a girl…”

“Say no more Saul,” I interrupted. “One pair of diamond earrings coming up.”

“Think you could get a matching necklace?” He asked.

“Probably. Now leave.” I shut the door and headed back to the living room. I glanced at the clock and swore. Becca was supposed to be at work an hour ago. “Yo Becky! Time to get up bitch!” I yelled and pushed her off the couch. “Come on! Gotta eat then get to work! Time is money and money means dinner!”

“Ow!” She rubbed her head and glared at me. “What the fuck Shay?”

“You’re late for work dummy.” I pointed at the clock and watched as Becca went white.

“Oh shit!” She sprinted to my bathroom and I heard the shower turn on. I shook my head. Weren’t working people supposed to have an internal clock telling them when to get up? I guess staying up until three in the morning didn’t help. I sat down at my computer and logged onto my email.

“ _Yo. One of your employees is obviously very late today but I’m to blame. –S_ ” I sent the email to Ryan and then shut down my computer. Becca came racing back out, wearing one of my nicer outfits.

“Dude, I never said you could borrow my clothes.” I teased.

“Shut up I don’t have time to stop by my place.” She picked up her cell and called a cab. I walked into my bathroom and had a quick shower as well before changing into some nicer clothes. When I walked back into the living room, Becca was waiting by the window.

“Cabs here!” She practically ran out the door. I laughed and followed her. We got into the cab and Becca gave told him where to go. She was bouncing her knee the whole car ride. I finally had to hold her leg down before I went insane.

“Calm down already. Yeesh.” I laughed.

“Easy for you to say,” Becca growled, slapping my hand away. “I have never once been late to work.”

“Just blame me.” I shrugged. We arrived at the building and Becca just threw a bunch of money at the driver before hopping out. I sighed and followed, trying to catch up to her. We entered into the lobby and what do you know. Ryan is stand there, arms crossed and a raised eyebrow.

“Ladies.” That’s all he said. One word. One fucking word and Becca was freaking out.

“I am _so_ sorry Mr. Haywood I swear this will never happen again I don’t know what’s wrong with me I just-” She went on and on with a super long apology. Ryan just stood there looking at us. I finally had enough and clamped a hand over Becca’s mouth. It didn’t work. She still tried to talk.

“Shut up already Becca you’re embarrassing me.” I hissed. She shot me a glare and pulled my hand away.

“Ladies please,” Ryan held up his hands. “No one is in trouble. Shay sent me an email earlier explaining the situation. It’s fine. Really. Everybody has one of those days. Shay I need to talk to you in my office.” He said and started walking away.

“You sent him an email?” Becca asked. I shrugged as we followed Ryan.

“I knew you would flip your shit when we got here.” I replied. We got into the elevator and headed up. As we got to Becca’s floor she leaned over to me.

“Lunch later?”

“You’re buying.” I smirked. The elevator slowed down and the doors opened.

“Thought you had a job Shayne.” She called over her shoulder as she left.

“Hey I bought dinner last night. And don’t use my full name!” I yelled before the doors closed. The ride up to the top floor was silent. Ryan waited until his office door was closed before turning to me. “What’s up?”

“Who was at your house this morning?” He asked, walking to his desk.

“Excuse me?”

“A man left your house this morning. Who was it?” Ryan asked again, sitting down in his chair.

“Are you watching my house?!” I yelled. “What the fuck?”

“Calm down Shay. It just to make sure you’re okay,” Ryan replied. “Look, you’ve gotten yourself in a lot of trouble lately. There are some people who are…interested in you. I just wanted to make sure nothing happens. A lot of these people work for gangs. Ever heard of the Fake AH Crew?”

“I’ve heard a few things…” I said slowly. I sat down in one of the chairs across from him.

“They are one of the most notorious gangs in town. They are very dangerous and like sticking their noses into other people’s business. Nobody knows who they are. But word on the street is that their leader needs a good thief and he has an eye on you.” Ryan stood up and walked behind me. He put his hands on my shoulders and started massaging. “I don’t want him to find you. You’re mine.”

“I’m not some possession you can own.” I bit back a moan as he continued to massage my shoulders. I should really go to the spa one day. My line of work was causing me to tense up like crazy.

“I know that. I’m just saying I need to make sure someone doesn’t try and take you away from me.” I felt his lips graze my temple before walked away.

“You’re acting like you already have me.” I replied.

_He’s been pushy. You sure he isn’t like Brandon? You know what he was like._

Shut up.

_Just saying…_

“Don’t I? Clearly there is a connection between us Shay. The night we met I could feel it,” Ryan walked to the window and stared down at the people passing by. “As soon as we made eye contact I knew.” He said it so quietly I almost didn’t hear him.

“Knew what?” I asked.

“Knew that you were what I have been waiting for. Life has been going by slowly for me. Too slowly. I’ve been looking for something that would add fire to it. Set everything in my world ablaze as I would sit back and watch with joy. Shay we could do extraordinary things. This city would be our playground,” as he talked I could see it. I wouldn’t have to hide anymore. But…my other side…my insane side…it would come out more often. Would I be able to control myself? “You know, I didn’t really know what to expect when you asked to meet me.”

“Ryan?” Just then the door opened and five guys came tumbling into the room. They were all wearing jeans and t-shirts. One of them I recognized right off the bat. It was Geoff Ramsey. The guy I had robbed a few days ago. I started to panic. Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. What was I going to do? What was _he_ going to do?

“Rye-bread!” One yelled. He had curly dark red hair with brown eyes.

“Michael?” Ryan turned around. If he was surprised to see these intruders he didn’t show it. “What brings you guys here?”

“Our lunch date remember?” Another one squawked. This one had light brown hair, blue eyes and the biggest nose I had ever seen. He was also British. The other two were just standing there awkwardly. One was a small Puerto Rican man with jet black hair, dark brown eyes and glasses. The other one was a bit larger than the other ones. He had auburn hair, blue eyes and a giant beard. Well…I guess it wasn’t _that_ big but it was bigger than what most people had around the city.

“Oh…right. Sorry I’ve been busy lately. It slipped my mind.” Ryan smiled.

“I thought you hired a personal assistant, Ryan! They don’t doing their job?” The Puerto Rican joked.

“No, no it wasn’t her fault. It was mine.” Ryan waved his hand and turned to me. “Shay. These are my coworkers at Rooster. Geoff, Gavin, Jack, Michael and Ray. Guys. This is my personal assistant.” He pointed to each one as he said their names. All eyes turned to me and I flinched as Geoff stopped smiling and started to glare at me.

“You!” He started walking towards me, anger shaking through him. I got up and started backing away. No way was I getting near him. “You’re that bitch who broke into my house!” I felt the wall behind me and for the first time since I left home I felt terrified. This guy was going to kill me. Just as he reached me, Ryan stepped in front of my.

“Geoff,” Ryan’s voice took on an earie calm. “I’ve done background checks on her. She’s not-”

“Bullshit! I’d know her face anywhere,” Geoff glared at me over Ryan’s shoulder. “This bitch broke into my house, assaulted me and then took off with a bunch of valuable shit. Now I am going to fucking turn her over to the authorities!”

“Geoff if you would just calm down I could ex-”

“I AM CALM!” Geoff yelled. “Move out of the way Haywood.”

“No.” Ryan crossed his arms.

“What did you say?” Geoff growled.

“I said no,” Ryan repeated. “If all you are going to do is harass my employees and I must ask you to leave.” Geoff’s face went from red to purple in a second. Without a word he stormed off, slamming the door behind him. I winced at the loud bang.

“I am sorry about that. I’ve never seen him like that before…” Ryan smiled apologetically at me. The others walked towards us.

“Yeah that was…weird.” Jack agreed.

“I’ve seen Geoff mad but that was something else.” Gavin added.

“He’s been having a rough week,” Michael shrugged. “I’m sure he’s just tired. Once he calms down and realises his mistake he’ll apologize.”

“So you’re the bird Ryan won’t shut up about!” Gavin suddenly said.

“Bird?” I repeated.

“He calls everyone that,” Ray replied. “I don’t know why. It’s a British thing.”

“Anyways we came to get Ryan for lunch and since you’re here you could join us. Our treat. Think of it as an apology from us.” Jack said.

“I…already have plans with my friend…”

“She can come too!” Gavin replied. “Come on! Let’s go get her!” I glanced over at Ryan who shrugged.

“I’ll call her and tell her to meet us in the lobby.” Ryan went over to the phone and picked it up. When he hung up, we all headed to the elevator and somehow managed to fit although it was a bit tight. When we got to the lobby, Becca was waiting there with a worried look on her face. Worry switched to confusion when she saw us.

“What’s going on?” She asked.

“Lunch!” I linked arms with her and pulled her to the garage.

“We’ll meet you guys there.” Ryan said and led us to his car. We got in and headed towards the restaurant.

“Who were those guys?” Becca asked, leaning forward so her head poked through the front seats.

“The guys I work with at Roosters,” Ryan explained. “We had a lunch date set up today and they invited you two along.”

“Oh…”

“And the best part is you don’t have to pay anymore!” I laughed.

“Why is that?” Becca turned towards me.

“Um…long story. I’ll tell you later.” She rolled her eyes and sat back. When we got to the restaurant Michael had Gavin in a headlock and Ray was on the ground laughing while Jack just stood there shaking his head. Yeah…lunch was going to be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is a bit...slow in going forward with the plot but I had to figure out a way to get the rest of the AH crew in here. So we're going on a lunch date!


	6. I may or may not have just put myself on a wanted list...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shay and Becca have lunch with Ryan's friends and head back to work finding things not as they left it. Later, Shay plans a job and gets Ryan to help out.

“So how long have you and Shay known each other?” Gavin asked Becca. Ever since we showed up at the restaurant he wouldn’t leave her alone. I thought it was kind of funny.

“Since we were kids.” Becca shrugged. She looked over at me, her eyes screaming “help me!” I just smirked and shook my head. She glared at me but her attention was pulled back to Gavin. The others tried to keep me in their conversations. We were all trying to get to know one another so it was awkward at first, trying to find common ground, but we eventually got to topics everyone was happy with. Apparently Ryan had been talking about me while at work so I was getting grilled pretty hard. About halfway through lunch Geoff made a reappearance. Before sitting down he came over to me.

“I want to…apologize for my behaviour earlier. Things have been ruff lately and I was jumping to conclusions.” He mumbled. I gave him a small smile and he nodded, going to sit between Gavin and Jack. Becca gave me a questioning look and I mouthed “later” to her. Everyone was silent for a moment before Gavin split pop all over his shirt and started making squawking noises.

“Well I guess that ends lunch.” Ryan laughed.

“But…I’m still hungry,” Ray pouted. “Way to go Vav. You’ve ruined everything. You owe me dinner now.”

“Wot? No I didn’t! The bloody drink spilled on me! How is that my fault?” Gavin demanded. The waiter came by just then with our bill. Jack paid for our food and we left the restaurant.

“Well, I guess we have to take this idiot home.” Geoff sighed. “Honestly we can’t take you anywhere.”

“But Geoff!” Gavin whined.

“Nice meeting you two!” Ray waved and got in a car with Michael. Becca and I waved back and headed to Ryan’s car. He talked to Geoff for a minute or two before joining us and pulling away from the restaurant. When we got back to Haywood Publishing fire trucks were surrounding the building as well as some cop cars and an ambulance.

“What the fuck?” Ryan pulled over to the side of the road and we scrambled out. Ryan immediately went to one of the police officers.

“Shay. You need to go. You may have changed your hair color but your face is still recognizable.” Becca pointed out.

“Let Ryan know I went home?” She nodded and I slipped away, making sure no one was watching me. I walked for a few blocks before calling a cab. I gave the driver my address and we made it to my place pretty quickly. I gave the guy a tip and ran up the stairs to my apartment, slipping inside and turning the news on right away. They were just about to cover what happened at Haywood Publishing.

“A fire has caused the evacuation of Haywood Publishing, a new publishing office that opened last year. Most of the top floors were damaged in the fire but thankfully everyone was able to make it out of the building. Officials are uncertain of how the fire started. Ryan Haywood, the owner, is confused as to how this happened. The company who built the building promised that everything had passed inspection before they gave him the go-ahead to open up for business. Further investigation will be needed.” I sat back. Ryan must be going bat shit crazy right now. Shaking my head, I headed to my bedroom and changed into a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. I sat down at my computer and opened my email.

“ _Yo. I need those earrings tomorrow. –Saul_ ” Oh…right. I need to find a place to get diamond earrings. Shit. I bit my lip, trying to think of where I could get diamond earrings and a matching necklace that didn’t involve going to the store. There was a knock at the door and I jumped up to answer it, surprised to see Ryan.

“Figured they’d keep you longer.” I stepped aside so he could come in.

“Yeah well, until they figure out what caused the fire I didn’t have any reason to stay.” He looked tired. Ryan wandered into my living room and practically crashed onto the couch. “The entire top floor was destroyed, most of the third floor was destroyed, and heavy smoke damage on the second floor…I’m so glad everyone made it out okay.” He buried his face in his hands. I went over to the couch and wrapped my arms around him. “It wasn’t an electrical fire. I know that. I had the building inspected last month for fuck’s sake. Nothing was wrong. Someone did this.”

“You don’t know that. It could have been an accident.” I replied, running my hand up and down his back.

“Shay it started on the top floor. Nobody is permitted up there unless _I’m_ there.”

“Oh…”

“There is also the fact that it didn’t take very long for the fire to consume basically everything.” Ryan shook his head. “I’m going to kill the motherfucker who did this.” I honestly didn’t know what to say. Until the damage was repaired nobody would be able to work. What makes someone in this kind of position feel better?

“Hey,” I said, an idea popping into my head. “I have to do a job tonight. Join me? I could use the backup in case something goes wrong.”

“Job?” Ryan lifted his head and looked over at me, his eyebrow raised.

“Yeah. A buddy of mine wants some diamond earrings and a necklace. The only place I can think of is a jewelry store and robbing something like that by myself is hard.”

“It’s also completely stupid. You need a plan, people to hack the security to give you some time.” Ryan pointed out. “And I supposed I know some good hackers. You’re not really giving me a huge time slot here but I can probably pull together a small team…”

“Perfect!” I smiled. “And hey, we grab some extra shit and find someone who will give us a good price you’ll be paying off the cost of a new building in no time!”

“I’m not a complete idiot Shay. I have insurance.”

“Fine you’ll have some extra change.” I stuck my tongue out. “Call your guys.” I got up and looked at the clock. We had eight hours until the store I had in mind was closed. I walked over to my phone and dialed one of my ‘associates’.

“Well if it isn’t little Shay! Or should I call you Shadow now? Great heist by the way. Never would have thought you’d pick something that big!” Reno a picked up right away. He and I met almost immediately after my first break in. He was a really good hacker and could get my blueprints for everything the city had built.

“Neither did I,” I admitted. “Listen I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything for you babe!”

“I need blueprints for that jewelry store down on Central. Think you could get those?” I asked.

“But of course! I can even find a great entrance point. Saul wanting some bling eh?” I could hear some typing in the background and knew Reno was already hard at work.

“Yeah he wants some ‘bling’.” I rolled my eyes. Saul and Reno met through me and ever since then they’ve been confiding in each other for different things. If Saul had something on sale Reno wanted he would bump the price down as long as Reno could get him some classified information on whatever he needed.

“Wonder who the unlucky girl is this time,” Reno chuckled. “Anyways it shouldn’t be too hard to get these. When do you want them?”

“Before eight would be fantastic. I want to hit it tonight.” I replied.

“Got someone to take care of security and what not?”

“Yup. Might also have some guys coming in with me but that depends.” I walked over to Ryan and sat down beside him. He was just finishing up his phone call with whoever was going to help out.

“On what?”

“Sorry R. Can’t say. You know the rules.” I smiled.

“Aw come on S. We’ve known each other long enough now. Not even a hint of who you got?” He whined.

“Nope!”

“Fine,” he sighed. “Want me to get a buyer? I figure you’ll be going in for more than a few baubles for Mr. Sleeps Around.”

“If you can find someone who won’t BS the prices sure.” Ryan was giving me a questioning look but I just shook my head.

“I know a few guys,” Reno replied. “I’ll be around by 7. That good enough?”

“Yup.”

“Till then beautiful!” Reno hung up and I rolled my eyes. I hung up and set my phone on the coffee table. Ryan’s arms instantly wound around me and pulled me against him.

“Who was that?” He asked, nuzzling my neck.

“Someone who will get us blueprints for the store.” I replied.

“Can we trust him?” Ryan pulled back slightly, looking me in the eye.

“Yeah. He’s helped me out before.”

“He?” Ryan raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t get jealous. All of my contacts are on a strictly business agreement.” Ryan rested his chin on my shoulder. I could feel his warm breath ghosting across my skin.

“You know…we have a while before my guys show up,” he pressed soft kisses to my shoulder, making a trail up to my neck. “I know a perfect way to pass the time.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” I admitted, biting my lip and peeking at him from behind my hair.

“Why?” He pressed a kiss to my neck.

“Well I have neighbours and you are really, _really_ loud and I don’t want to bother them…” Ryan stopped and pulled back. He looked like he was going to say something but his mouth kept opening and then closing. Finally something flashed in his eyes that I didn’t really like and I was being picked up and carried to the bed room. “Wait a second what are you doing?!”

“Shh. You have to be quiet!” He threw me on the bed and climbed on top. “Don’t want to bother the neighbours now do we?”

\---

The people Ryan had called showed up just after six. They set up show in my living room and we just had to wait for Reno so we could devise a plan. As soon as everyone showed up Ryan made introductions and then told them to get to work. There were two girls in the group, Charlie and Bets. They didn’t give their real names which I didn’t hold against them. Charlie was a short, blonde but swore up and down that she was lethal. Looking at her thin build and I believed it. Bets was the hacker of the group. She had come in with tons of equipment weighing her down, her dark brown hair tied back in a messy bun. Kay, Ben and James made up the rest of the group. Kay and Ben were the snipers and James would be coming inside with Ryan and I. They didn’t say much besides “hello”. Once Bets’ computer was set up we waited until Reno arrived. We didn’t wait for long however because around six thirty my door banged open.

“Honey I’m home!” Reno called out. “I’ve brought the bacon!” I groaned and banged my head against the wall. Reno came into the living room and looked around with interest. He also decided to bring Saul with him. “Ello everyone!” Reno was usually dressed to impress but today he decided to just wear jeans and a t-shirt. His bright red hair was tied back in a ponytail but a few stands had managed to escape and hung around his face. He held a folder in his hand and I could see a few pages sticking out.

“Oh for God’s sake R you’re an embarrassment,” Saul sighed. “Look! Ever S is regretting ever meeting you!” He pointed to where I stood, my head softly hitting the wall. “I mean, if S is regretting poor life decisions then you _know_ things have gone to hell.” Reno came over to me and put his hand in between the wall and my head.

“Don’t do that, love. You lose brain cells and we all know you haven’t enough of those as it is.”

“I’m going to kill you,” I growled. “I’m going to kill you and I am going to scatter what’s left of you over the highway so you are crushed into nothing and THEN I’m going to scrape you off the road and throw you into a river.”

“Sounds like a lot of work for someone like me so I can tell you right now it isn’t worth it,” Reno winked and turned to everyone else in the room. “So! Who’ve we got here?” I quickly introduced everyone and when I got to Ryan both Reno and Saul seemed to be interested.

“I know you,” Saul said. “You’re the dude whose business burnt down this afternoon!” Annoyance flicked across Ryan’s face but he held out his hand and did that weird “grab the other guys hand but don’t move” hand shake.

   “Never thought someone like you would fall to crime just to fix a building.” Reno snickered.

“I have my own reasons.” Ryan snapped.

“Okay, okay,” Reno backed up to me and leaned closer. “Your boyfriend is crazy.”

“Can we please focus? The store will be closing soon and we need a plan!” Bets sighed. Reno pulled the blueprints out of the folder, laying them down on the coffee table.

“So I was thinking that since S here is fucking crazy she’d want to go in all guns ablaze but then she would get killed and we don’t want that,” Reno started. “There are two ways to get into the store. The front and the back. Now the front faces a very busy street so that won’t work. The back is in an alley but it’s fenced although I highly doubt that would be a problem?” He looked at me and I shook my head. “Right so the lock is your standard one. Just pick it and you’re in. Who’s working security?”

“That’d be me.” Bets raised her hand.

“Okay. How long can you shut it down for?”

“As long as we need.” Bets shrugged.

“Good. Now,” Reno turned to Saul. “I know you’re a picky guy and like all the rest this girl means a lot to you-“

“Wait we’re doing this just so he can give his whore a gift?!” Ben yelled.

“Down tiger let me finish,” Reno shushed him. “Anyways. You want diamonds. How big are we talking?”

“I want something that’ll sweep her off her feet R.” Saul replied.

“Alright. Well the big stuff is near the front. These guys got this store set up so it goes from ‘holy fucking shit that’s expensive’ to ‘dirt cheap’. It’s dumb I know but oh well. I’d suggest working front to back. What are the teams?”

“Shay, James and I are going in. Ben and Kay are lookout and snipers. Charlie is get away.” Ryan said. Reno nodded.

“Okay. I think we’re set. Employees clock out at eight. You head in at nine. It’ll be great.”

“Why are we going in so early?” Kay asked.

“Because everyone expects a robbery really late at night.” Reno shrugged.

“That’s your reasoning?!”

“Oh shut up and get ready!”

\---

We stood outside the fence surrounding the back door waiting for the signal. I had changed into my usual outfit for jobs like this. I had a gun attached to my hip and several small knives hidden on me. We each had ear pieces so we could communicate easier and they were uncomfortable as fuck.

“ _Okay security is down_.” Bets’ voice came through and I winced at how loud it was. Ryan, James and I quickly climbed the fence and headed to the door. It took a few seconds for me to get the lock and then we were in. Since this was Ryan’s first official job he kept looking over his shoulder every five seconds. I remember those days. The paranoia was always fun to work with. We crept through the back office and into the main store. I made my way up to the front and looked in some display cases. Finding something that I knew would please Saul, I quickly smashed the glass and swiped it. Ryan jumped at the sudden noise but then both he and James were following my lead, breaking the cases and taking everything they could get their hands on. Soon we had half the store stashed in our bags. I snapped my fingers to get their attention and we made our way back outside. Charlie was there waiting with the getaway car; a minivan.

“We couldn’t have gotten something cooler?” I muttered under my breath.

“We needed something that wasn’t suspicious.” Charlie replied.

“And what if the cops showed up? You think we can get away in a fucking minivan?” I demanded shaking my head.

“ _Guys we got a problem_.” Ben said through the com.

“What?” Ryan answered.

“ _Fake AH is here_.” Just then a heavily armoured car came cruising into the alley, blocking our path. I pulled my hood up, fixing it so they couldn’t see my face. I glanced at the others and swore. None of them had anything to cover their faces with. Four men climbed out of the car, all of them wearing masks. I instantly took my gun out but I kept it low. I’d hate to use it.

“You guys are on our territory.” One said. He was dressed differently than the others. He wore a full tuxedo while the others were in everyday clothes. I tagged him as their leader.

“This isn’t anyone’s territory,” I snapped back. “As far as I know this whole strip is out of bounds for gangs.”

“Then why are you here?” He asked.

“Who said we were a gang?” I sneered. We all stared at each other, silently daring the other to start something.

“How about this. You hand that bag of yours over and we’ll leave and forget this ever happened.” His voice sounded familiar…but I couldn’t place where I had heard it.

“How about you go fuck yourself.” Charlie shot back.

“We don’t want any trouble miss. But if we have to,” he pulled a gun out and pointed it at Charlie. “We will use any means necessary.”

“ _Guys keep them busy. Ben and I are sneaking around_.” Kay whispered through our ear pieces.

“ _Saul and I are almost there too_.” Reno piped up.

“Hey how about this-” I suddenly said.

“ _Shay what are you doing?_ ” I could tell Reno was smirking.

“I’ll give you to the count of five-”

“ _Shay don’t do anything stupid!_ ” Bets yelled.

“If you aren’t gone by the time I stop-“

“ _Shay I swear to God if you fuck this up for us…_ ”

“I’ll have to do this.” Without warning I raised my gun and shot the guy in the tux square in the chest. There was a moment of silence. Everyone stood frozen as we watched him fall.

“ _Nice count Shayne._ ” Reno laughed. Suddenly I was being yanked behind the minivan as shots fired off. Ryan, James and Charlie were firing blindly, none of them brave enough to peek from behind the van to make sure they hit something.

“What the fuck Shay?!” James yelled. I just laughed. And laughed. And laughed. Charlie and James gave me a weird look before continuing to fire. I heard a bike roaring down the street and risked a look. Reno was on my bike with Saul following close behind. They started firing at the Fake AH crew too. When the members realised they were outnumbered they grabbed their boss and loaded back into their car, peeling out of the alley and racing away. We were all silent for a moment until I got bored and jumped out of cover.

“Reno!” I yelled, holding up my bag and continuing to giggle. “Guess what?”

“You’re a fucking lunatic?” He asked.

“Well yes but not the point.” He tossed me my helmet which I caught easily.

“Darling you do know that the Fake AH Crew holds vendettas right?” Reno laughed. “You just shot their boss! You think they’ll forgive that?”

“Oh well. I was getting annoyed,” I shrugged. “Come on everyone we should head back before cops show up.” I hopped on my bike and revved it to life. I slipped my helmet on and waited for Reno to jump on the back before Saul and I raced out of the alley and back to my place. I was feeling a little adventurous and I kept weaving in and out of on-coming traffic, getting a few honks here and there.

“You’re gonna kill us!” Reno yelled over the wind.

“Oh please! If we were gonna die we would have already!” I shouted back. We made it back to my apartment in one piece and I quickly parked and ran up the stairs to my apartment. Everyone else was close behind. Once we got in someone grabbed me and threw me against the wall.

“What the fuck?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay new characters :3 I'm sorry I've taken so long to update. Life happened and it took up my time. Anyhoo I hope this chapter makes up for my lateness. So much more to come! Gah i'm excited!


	7. Trust is hard to come by when you're me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events of the jewellery store, Shay is faced with a tough decision.

I stared Ben down, trying to keep his arm from closing around my throat any more than it already had. Everyone had frozen in surprise at the sudden outburst by him but now they were trying to get him off of me. The force of the hit had stunned me for a moment and I could feel a bump where my head connected with the wall. There was probably a dent. Couldn’t wait to explain that one.

“You could have killed one of us!” Ben yelled in my face. I felt a smile tug at the corner of my mouth. “You think that’s funny? You’re lucky the others showed up when they did.”

“Oh come on,” I drawled. “Their boss was down. They wouldn’t have been able to stay much longer without him dying on them. We were fine.”

“That was luck. We had no idea if the rest of their members were hiding somewhere. The Fake AH Crew is big. Next time, before you act, remember that.” The others finally dragged him off of me and he stormed out of the apartment, cursing under his breath. I rubbed the back of my head gently, wincing as a shot of pain went through my skull. Yup, that was going to hurt like a bitch for a while. I glanced up at the others to find them watching me warily. Only Saul and Reno were grinning.

“You crazy bitch,” Saul shook his head, a laugh escaping him.

“Oh man they did not see that coming!” Reno clapped his hands and started jumping up and down like a toddler. “Hell _I_ didn’t see that coming. I figured you would have just shot his leg or something but right in the chest? Man!” I pushed past everyone and went into the living room, setting my bag down.

“Saul.” He nodded and opened it up, going through the contents carefully. I made my way to the bathroom and got a couple tablets of aspirin, a headache already forming.

“So is that normal for her?” I heard Bets ask Saul and Reno.

“Oh yeah. Actually, she’s done crazier things.” Reno replied.

“What kind of person did you hire boss?” Charlie asked.

“He didn’t ‘hire’ me, alright?” I said, coming out of the bathroom. “I asked him to help out. He did. Thank you all very much, I’ll give your cuts to Ryan who will give it to you. Now everyone get the fuck out of my apartment.” I was in no mood to deal with anyone else right now. I needed to get everything to a buyer and then divvy the money up accordingly. Of course Ben would be getting a much smaller share but that was his problem. I nodded to Reno who grabbed the bags and hauled them out to his car. Saul was wrapped whatever he had grabbed up, nodded to me and took off as well. I looked at the others, my eyebrow raised, and watched as they left as well. Finally it was just me and Ryan.

“Just out of curiosity…what exactly was going through your mind?” Ryan asked casually.

“We needed to get out of there. I provided a way. They weren’t going to leave without the stuff so…” I shrugged.

“So you decided to risk my team’s life?” Ryan supplied.

“Yes. You want me to work with you on your plans you have to remember one thing; I will not hesitate to risk my life, or anyone else’s, in order to get something done. Yes, we could have died tonight but we didn’t. Actually, we probably ended up killing the boss of the Fake AH Crew.”

“What if it was just me?” Ryan asked quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“Would you risk my life?” He asked again. “If we were in a situation where there was a chance I could die would you risk my life to get out?”

“I…” I had no idea how to answer that. I didn’t really think about things like that. I didn’t want to. What happened earlier was nothing compared to the situation he was talking about. I knew we had backup coming. I knew we would get out okay. But if it was just the two of us? Usually I would just save myself and hope the others get out okay but with Ryan…it was different. He was different. I…cared about him. Apparently I took too long to answer because Ryan just nodded and then left without saying anything else. I stood there in silence, staring at the door and willing myself to go after him but I didn’t move. Relationships weren’t something I was familiar with. Hell I figured I’d never be in one again after everything that’s happened. Even then I didn’t consider what Ryan and I had as a relationship per say. We just had sex sometimes. There was not even a hint of either of us wanting more. I figured as soon as we were done finding out what his co-workers were up to then we’d cease all contact. Fuck all this thinking was making my headache worse so I decided to just go to bed. Maybe some sleep would help clear things up.

\---

The next morning I was woken up by someone banging at the door. Groaning, I got up and trudged my way over, peering through the peephole to see who it was. Becca. I opened the door and she burst in, instantly going to my TV and turning it on.

“Good morning to you too sunshine,” I said, following. “To what do I owe this surprise?” Instead of answering, Becca flipped to the news channel. They just started to cover the break in last night at the jewelry store. “Oh how lovely.” I plopped myself down on the couch and settled in to watch.

“ _Last night Strieber’s Jewels was robbed, the amount taken added up to over 15 million dollars,_ ” Sweet. “ _Reports say that gunshots could be heard and when police got there they found blood in the alley right behind the store. Officials say that whoever broke in came through the back entrance. Almost everything was stolen._ ” Becca turned the TV off and glared at me.

“What?”

“Really? A jewelry store? I thought Ryan was paying you.” She sat down beside me with a huff.

“He is. I didn’t do this just for the money. I had to get something.” I explained.

“Get something?” Becca repeated.

“Yes. One of the guys I know needed something and I agreed to get it.”

“Oh for God’s sake Shay!” Becca cried. “You need to stop this. It’s dangerous! And what of those gunshots? Hm? What was that?”

“You know the Fake AH Crew? They’re a big gang in the city and they wanted me to hand over the stuff I took. I wouldn’t let them and it turned into a small fight. Nothing too bad.” I couldn’t help the wave of pride I felt over wounding their leader.

“How did you get out? One person can’t possibly take on a ga-who went with you?” Becca demanded.

“Some people,” I shrugged. “I’m not at liberty to say.” Plus I was pretty sure Ben would kill me if I told anyone who he was.

“Unbelievable. You keep dragging yourself into these situations. And for what? So you can get a thrill and make some money? Shay you have a job now-“

“Yeah I have a job. Doing the exact same thing I’ve been doing since we got here. Ryan isn’t paying me to work at the office Becca. I get paid because he needs me to steal shit. He wants me to do exactly what I did last night but on a much larger scale. Speaking of which it is no longer safe for you here.” I jumped up and grabbed her hand, pulling her to the door.

“What do you mean it isn’t safe?” Becca asked.

“I…I may have shot the Fake Ah Crew’s leader and he may or may not be dying right now because of said shot so they may or may not want me dead.” I summarized.

“Wait what?” Becca yelled and started to pull away from me. “What do you mean?”

“I mean there is a very high chance that a huge gang now wants me dead!” I turned to face her. “You can’t be here. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“What have you gotten yourself into?”

“Please. Just give me a few days, okay? Everything will be fine.” Becca finally agreed. As soon as she was gone I got dressed and headed out. I got on my bike but stopped. I was going to go see Ryan but he never gave me his home address. I pulled my phone out and called Reno.

“Hey, hey, hey! We’re famous man!” He greeted.

“Yes I saw the news. Listen I need you to look something up for me.”

“Again with the demands, eh? You know I’ll want payment for all of these requests.”

“The money we made from last night will be payment enough.” I sighed.

“Mm…what do you need?” He asked.

“Could you find out where Ryan lives?”

“Wow your own boyfriend won’t give you his address. Smart man.” Reno joked.

“He is _not_ my boyfriend.” I snapped.

“Whatever you say. Alright give me a moment.” I heard him tapping away at his computer. After a few moments he had an answer. I thanked him and hung up. I kicked my bike to life and took off down the busy streets, heading for Ryan’s house. I just hoped he was home.

When I got there his car was in the driveway so that was a good sign. Ryan lived in a very rich neighbourhood. All the houses were huge and they all had expensive cars sitting in the driveway. I walked up to Ryan’s door and rang the doorbell. A maid answered it.

“Can I help you?” She asked.

“Yes…I’m a friend of Ryan’s. My name’s Shay. Could you tell him I’m here?” The maid nodded and opened the door wider so I could go in as she went to find Ryan. As soon as I stepped inside I was overwhelmed. Everything was spotless. I swear it looked like the whole house was _shiny_. There was a staircase right beside the door and further down the hall I could see what looked like a kitchen. There was a room off to the side and, after taking a step closer, I could see that it was a living room. I heard someone coming down the stairs and turned to see Ryan and some random girl. Both of them had messy hair and her lips were swollen. She was wearing a really short, tight, black dress with matching heels and I pegged her for a hooker. Great. I drove him to sleeping with someone else.

_It’s for the best. It would never have lasted long with you anyways. Might as well let him go now so women like her can have him. She’s obviously prettier than you too, even for a hooker._

The girl took my looked at me, giggled, kissed Ryan and then left.

Finally, something we could both agree on. I stood there awkwardly, contemplating just leaving but that would seem childish.

“Shay,” Ryan pulled me out of my thoughts. “How did you find my house?”

“Reno.” I answered. “He’s very good at finding people.”

“What do you want?” Ryan asked. He seemed very…annoyed that I was here.

_Yeah well you probably interrupted his time with that bitch._

I felt something go through me. It was like anger but it left me feeling sad and…empty.

_That’s called jealousy idiot._

“I wanted to talk to you…” I said quietly. I advoiding looking right at him, instead favouring a spot on the floor. Ryan walked by me and headed for the kitchen. I followed after a moment, silently watching him make a cup of coffee. He turned back towards me and I looked away again. Why was I so scared to meet his eyes?

“So talk.” I winced at how dead Ryan’s voice sounded towards me.

“Um…well I was wondering how high of a chance it is that the Fake AH Crew will try to get revenge for me shooting their boss.” I said.

“Pretty high. If he’s dead then you’re in for a bumpy ride.” Ryan replied. I nodded. Well it’s not like I was expecting anything different. “Is that all?”

“No,” I took a deep breath. “Listen about last night…look I’ve only ever been in one relationship and that ended horribly. Ever since they told me I was insane and a danger to everyone I basically gave up on any sort of relationship with anyone. All I’ve had was Becca and even then I keep trying to push her away from me. I have no idea what is going on between us and up to this point I’ve been pretty sure that as soon as the job is done then you’d just leave and that would be the end of it but everything feels so _weird_ now.” I could feel my madness coming back and I think Ryan noticed it too.

“What are you trying to say?”

“If we were in a situation where you were going to die I would not risk your life which, to be honest, scares me because usually I don’t care but something about you makes me care and I don’t know how to deal with that.” Ryan was slowly making his way over to me, his cup of coffee long forgotten by this point.

“You…care about me?” He asked slowly.

“ _Yes,_ ” I ground out. “I don’t like this. I’ve spent so much time on my own and then you show up and fucking ruin _everything_ and I-” Before I could finish my sentence Ryan’s lips were on mine. His arms wrapped around me and pulled me closer to him.

_These very same lips were on a hooker not even twenty minutes ago._

Oh that’s right. I quickly pulled away from Ryan and he gave me a quizzical look.

“Who was that with you when I first came here?” I asked. Ryan’s face flushed and he avoided eye contact.

“Look after our conversation last night I…may have gone to a bar and gotten drunk and I just kind of found my way in bed with her…”

“That,” I stated. “Is the worst excuse I have ever heard.”

“I’m sorry. I was upset and I wasn’t think straight. It won’t happen again. I promise.”

_Now where have we heard that before…?_

_Mmhmm. You really want to go down this path again?_

“Shay what’s wrong?” Ryan asked, concern filling his features.

_Just think. First its hookers, next it’ll be that girl he swears is just a friend._

“Shay?” Ryan cupped my face. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What is it?”

“I just…”

_Oh just think of how much fun it’ll be when you walk in and he’s in bed with someone else._

“My first boyfriend…he um…well,” I really didn’t know where to begin. I’ve never really talked about my first boyfriend with anyone except for Becca. “The reason I didn’t say anything last night is because the only relationship I’ve ever been in was a disaster. He made promises of always being there for me and that he would never hurt me and things like that. One day I walked in on him having sex with some random girl he had picked up at a bar the night before. As soon as they noticed me he sent her away and started apologizing and saying he’d never do it again.”

“Just like I did…” Ryan said quietly. I nodded.

“A few months later I caught him sleeping with someone else only this time I knew her. She used to hang out with us all the time. After that I left him but he always kept calling for months, trying to get me back. I actually did try to give him a second chance but it turns out that while he was trying to get me back he was sleeping with this other girl as well.” I bit my lip. After I found that out I almost completely lost it. I wanted to tear her hair out and hurt him in some way as well but I just faded out of their group. I stuck with Becca and eventually moved on.

“You’re scared that what’s between us is heading in that same direction,” Ryan concluded. I nodded again. “Shay. I am not that kind of person. Yes, I slept with someone last night but I was drunk and I wasn’t thinking clearly. You’ve seen how I get when I’m upset.” Memories of his trashed office came back to me. Yeah I guess he could have gone on a killing spree instead. “I know that doesn’t make up for it though but I do promise that it will never happen again. You can trust me.” He kissed my forehead and wrapped his arms tighter around me.

_We’ll see about that._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we finally find out who Brandon was. Chapters are becoming slow, I know, but the next chapter will have some fun in it I promise!


	8. Love Hurts But So Do Bullets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shay finds out who the Fake AH Crew really are and now has to make a decision

The next few weeks passed by without incident surprisingly. I was expecting to be getting death threats as soon as I got back home from Ryan’s. Of course that didn’t mean that I was in any way relaxed. Every little noise I ended up jumping and going to check it out. Eventually, after realising I wasn’t getting any sleep at night, Ryan had my things moved into his house. He said it was because he had state of the art security and even had someone patrolling the grounds at night just in case. I just shook my head and went along with it.

“You’ll be able to sleep better knowing there is someone else in the house with you,” he said soothingly, rubbing my arms as I packed my clothes up.

“You can’t just get my landlord to install better security?” I mumbled, closing my overstuffed suitcase. “Moving in with you seems a bit excessive.”

“It’ll make me feel better knowing you are safe,” Ryan picked my bag up and carried it to the door. “Plus this place is a dump. Once things have cooled down I’ll get you a nicer place.”

“Hey. This dump is the only thing I’ve been able to afford.” I elbowed him.

“Yeah well after the haul we got the other night I think you can afford a lot better now,” Ryan replied. We brought my things out to his car and I hopped onto my bike. “Hey. Why is it I’ve never seen you use that thing before.”

“I use it when I go out on jobs. People are able to identify it easily so I keep it hidden when I go out during the day.” I shrug. I started my bike up and headed off towards Ryan’s house. On the way there I noticed there was a van following me. Deciding I wanted to test it out a bit in case I was being silly, I took a few different turns. After I had turned down the fifth random street I knew for sure they were following me. I turned down an alley and quickly cut through there, crossing the street and going down another one. I turned left at the next street and headed towards the center of town where I weaved in and out of traffic for a bit. I kept looking behind me to make sure the van was gone. Once I was satisfied that I had lost it completely I started for Ryan’s again. When I got there he was standing out front pacing in front of his car. I could see his shoulders relaxed when he saw me.

“What happened?” He asked, pulling me into his arms.

“Someone was following me,” I replied. We went inside and Ryan had my things brought up to my room. Despite the fact that we were together he still gave me my own room, saying that he didn’t want to make me uncomfortable. I would have preferred being in his room but it didn’t matter at the moment. “It was a van. White with really dark windows. I couldn’t make out the license plate either.”

“Did you see any symbols on it?” Ryan grabbed his phone and punched in a number.

“I think so? A green circle thing on the side door…” It was only a quick glimpse when I saw it. I was trying to not crash into traffic. Whoever Ryan called picked up and Ryan moved away a bit, talking in hushed tones. I went into the living room and curled up on the couch. I glanced at my phone and saw two messages from Becca, asking me if everything was okay. I hadn’t spoken to her since the last time she had come over. I hadn’t even gone to work. I was terrified that something might happen to her and it would be my fault. Ryan hung up and came over to me.

“So we’re pretty sure the Fake AH Crew was following you,” Ryan started. “Since you were able to lose them quickly there isn’t anything to worry about but we’ll just have to keep a better look out.”

“Mmm…” I pushed my hair away from my face. “So what’s the word with the others? We any closer to hitting Roosters?”

“I believe so. We just got our hands on a bunch of sticky bombs and ammo. Oh, that reminds me. I need you to get something,” Ryan got up and disappeared for a moment before returning with a file in his hand. He gave it to me and sat back down. “We need a car. Something fast that won’t be tied back to us. I also need what’s in there.” He pointed at the file and I opened it up. Inside was a picture of a diamond. A really big diamond.

“Umm…didn’t we just rob a jewelry store?” I asked.

“This is a little different. See the door that we have to get through is heavy. Heavier than what banks use for their safes. Only the code will get us through but since the system installed in the Roosters’ building is virtually impossible to get into we need another way in. That diamond will help us.” Ryan explained.

“How?”

“Well for the last month or so I’ve been…building a…lazar…” Ryan said the last part so quietly I almost didn’t hear him.

“A lazar. You’ve built a fucking _lazar!?_ Are we in some high tech spy movie? What the fuck!?” I demanded. “Holy shit Ryan.”

“Hey I didn’t know what else to do alright?” He snapped. “I need you to get me that because through the power of science it will give the lazar a final boost to get through the door. Can you do it?” I took a look at the other papers he had in the file. A blueprint, the store’s general information like security system and a list of people who were going to help me. After a moment I nodded.

“Yeah I can do this.” The phone rang then and Ryan got up to get it while I mentally mapped out a plan. This store was going to be a lot harder. The diamond Ryan wanted was located in the back in a vault that had cameras and motion detectors on it. The only way into the store was through the front which was facing a very busy part of town. The only thing we could do was go in during the day, knock everyone out and then head straight for the diamond. The only thing that made me happy about this whole thing was that Ryan got a completely new group of people to help out. Speaking of Ryan, I got up and headed in the direction he went.

“-is he going to be okay?” I heard Ryan asked. “What exactly happened?” I poked my head into the kitchen and saw Ryan leaning against the counter, worry written all over his face. “Why is this the first time I’ve heard about this? It’s two weeks.” He glanced up as I got closer and wrapped an arm around me, pulling me against him. “What do you mean you never thought about it? I’m one of his closest friends Michael! I should have been among the first called!” His grip tightened on me so much it started to hurt and I winced. “Is he awake now?” Ryan demanded. He waited for an answer. “I’ll be there soon.” He hung up and slammed the phone down on the charger.

“What happened?” I asked quietly.

“Geoff was shot. The others just decided to let me know after he’s been in a coma for two weeks,” Ryan shook his head. “Fuck, the guy has no family. I’m the only one who knows what he wants done if he should ever die. Why they didn’t call me first is beyond me.” He swore again and headed for the door. “I’m going to the hospital. You coming?”

“Yeah.”

 

I hated hospitals. They reminded me of death and they always smelt like cleaning solutions. I had to watch my grandparents and even a few of my friends die in the hospital back home. Ryan and I walked down the hallway to Geoff’s room. Just before we got there, a doctor stepped out of the room.

“Hey Doc?” Ryan called. The doctor looked over and smiled at us. “You’re looking after Geoff right?”

“Mr. Ramsey? Yes I am.”

“I’m a friend of his. Could you tell me what happened?” Ryan asked.

“Well, on Thursday two weeks ago he found himself on the wrong side of a gun. A mugging gone wrong. He’s been in a coma ever since coming out of surgery,” The doctor explained. “I’m positive he will be just fine. His condition is actually getting better and I expect him to wake up in the next couple of days. Now if you’ll excuse me…” The doctor left, heading for another room.

“Two weeks ago…” I said under my breath. Ryan went to Geoff’s room and opened the door. The other four were in there, all of them sitting around Geoff’s bed. I followed Ryan inside as he went closer to Geoff, inspecting him.

“Ryan I know you’re mad at us and we are sorry we didn’t call but-” Jack tried to make up an excuse but one look from Ryan shut him up.

“All of you know Geoff intrusted his wishes to me should he die,” Ryan’s eyes wandered over everyone in the room but none of them would meet his gaze. “I should have been called first. You all know that.” His voice took on a dangerous tone.

“Look the guy didn’t die alright? That’s all that matters.” Michael scoffed. I looked over at Geoff and saw a bandage wrapped around his chest. Odd. Most muggers would try for the head. Those who were mugging for the first time went for the leg. Why was he shot in the chest? A memory of me pulling a trigger popped up. Cold dread started filling me up. Oh no. No, no, no, no, no.

_He’s been in here for two weeks._

_Around the same time you had your little run in with the Fake AH Crew._

_You’re now standing in a room full of people who want you dead because you shot their boss._

Fuck. I slipped out of the room and pulled my phone out, calling Reno.

“Yellow?” He answered on the first ring.

“Reno I need you to do something for me.” I walked down the hallway a bit, talking as quietly as I could.

“What’s up? Why are you so quiet?” Reno asked.

“I know it may be hard but can you find out who the leader of the Fake AH Crew is? Please? It’s an emergency.”

“Uh…yeah I can do that. I mean, that money has to go somewhere right? It’ll take me a moment though.” Reno replied.

“Try to be as fast as you can. Text me when you have an answer.”

“Ten-four.” We hung up and I slumped against the wall. I really hoped I was wrong about this. If Geoff was the leader of the Fake AH Crew I had a lot of problems. The door to his room opened and Michael stepped out, heading right for me.

“Hey,” he greeted. “What’s up?”

“Ah…well I don’t like hospitals. I’ve watched too many people I know die.” I shrugged, trying to keep cool. Was he one of the ones who was with Geoff that night?

“Oh yeah. I know the feeling. Watched my folks die here. Kind of puts a bad imprint on you doesn’t it? It’s even worse when it’s someone you really respect and can call a good friend.” Michael looked me right in the eye when he said that and I tried so hard to keep the fear off my face.

“Yeah I know,” I was surprised at how steady my voice was. “Doesn’t really help with hospitals always seeming so…I don’t know…gloomy. Bland walls and hallways, the smell of chemicals everywhere. It sucks.” Michael nodded. I felt my phone vibrate and glanced down to see a text from Reno.

 _It’s someone by the name of Geoff Ramsey._ Alarms went off in my head.

“You know,” Michael stepped closer, leaning down so his lips were right at my ear. “If I were you, I’d have been gone a long time ago. You’re already in enough shit with us with that little stunt you pulled at the office. Now you’ve gone and shot our leader. Tsk, tsk Shay. I really hope he wakes up soon. Otherwise I’ll be calling the shots. And trust me, what I have planned for you is something to be scared of.” He moved away, keeping eye contact with me the whole time. “Oh. And stay away from Ryan.” He winked and strolled back into Geoff’s room, leaving me to stand there and replay his words. As soon as the door closed I took off. I called a cab to come get me and as soon as it showed up, I hopped in and told the driver where to go. He dropped me off at Ryan’s house and I ran inside. The first thing I did was call Reno back.

“So was that info helpful?” He asked.

“Geoff Ramsey is one of Ryan’s close friends. Actually his whole crew is close friends with Ryan. They all work together and Ryan has no idea who they really are.” I blurted out.

“Oh shit,” Reno said. “That’s not good.”

“No it’s not and I just got a death threat from one of the members. They’ve been quiet for so long because they’ve been waiting for Geoff to wake up. If he doesn’t wake up soon then I’m basically fucked.” I started pacing, trying to think of a plan.

“Alright you need to calm down. Shay what you need to do is get out of there. You need to lay low and you need to find some place they can’t find you. Staying at Ryan’s isn’t an option anymore. Actually I think you should leave the city but I know as long as Becca is here you won’t do that,” He was right about that one. “Whatever these fuckers have planned is not good. The longer you stay in a place you can be easily found, the faster they can get you. I’ll be over in a few hours to get you. I need to set up a safe house first.” He hung up and I stood there biting my lip, wondering what I should do. I didn’t want to put Ryan in any danger. They may be his friends but they were still incredibly dangerous. They wouldn’t hesitate to use him against me.

_Well aren’t we in a pickle._

 

I had just finished packing everything I would need when the front door opened. Footsteps pounded up the stairs and Ryan burst into my room.

“Where the hell did you go?!” He roared. “I turned my back for five minutes and you take off without saying anything. You wouldn’t answer your phone and I’ve been searching the whole god damned city for you thinking the Crew got to you somehow.” He walked up to me and crushed me too him. “Don’t ever do that again Shay. God I was so worried.” He peppered kisses along my face, holding me as tightly as he could. It was then he noticed my bags. “What…why are your things packed?”

“I can’t stay here.” I whispered.

“Yes you can! Are you worried about the Crew finding you? You don’t have to be babe. I won’t let them hurt you.” He brushed a few stray hairs away from my face.

“Ryan I can’t put you in that kind of danger. I told you before, if we were in a situation where it was me or you…Reno has a safe house set up for me. He’s on his way here now to get me.” I stepped away and grabbed my bags.

“Wait,” Ryan grabbed my hand. “You don’t have to worry about me. Shay I can’t just sit here and do nothing. I need you here so I know you’re safe. If you’re off somewhere I can’t find you…I’ll go insane. I’ll go more insane than I already am. Shay please.”

“Look buddy she’s already made up her mind. Just let her go,” Reno walked in and picked up some of my things. “I’ll let you know that she’s safe. It’s more for your protection than hers anyways. You think she could live with herself if you died because of her?” I followed Reno out of the room and down the stairs.

“Shay?” Ryan called after me but I refused to look at him. I didn’t want to leave, my heart was breaking just at the thought, but I had to make sure Ryan was safe. “Shay I love you.” I paused mid step and almost turned around. Biting my lip I continued out the door and into Reno’s car. I could see Ryan standing at the door, watching me. Tears rolled down my face as we pulled away.

“It’s not forever kid,” Reno said. “It’s just until we figure out what to do with this Crew. Trust me, its better if you aren’t anywhere near him right now. I don’t need you dying on me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think my heart broke as I wrote this. I'M SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG. I just got a job so I've been busy with training.


	9. You Can't Keep Me from Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shay runs back to Ryan and soon learns that something wicked this way comes

“Shay come on. I know you’re depressed and shit but you need to get up.” Reno banged on my door for the third time. He decided to stay with me at the house in case the Fake AH Crew somehow found me. I flipped the bird to the door and rolled over. Ever since we got here I had been in a constant low. I had left Ryan just standing there after saying the biggest sentence ever, I had ignored every call and text Becca had sent me and now I’ve dropped off the face of the earth and now both were probably worried sick about me.

_Yeah you suck. The man said he loves you and you leave him. Becca, your best friend since childhood, knows absolutely nothing about what’s going on. For all she knows you’re dead._

“Fine. Starve. See if I care. But if your boyfriend kills me because you refused to eat I will personally make your life in Hell suck even more.” I heard Reno walking away. Sighing, I got up and threw on some clothes. I went out into the kitchen where Reno was making bacon and eggs on the stove. “It’s only been two weeks Shay. You have to stay sharp. I know you miss him but if you don’t break out of this depression you are just making yourself an easier target.”

“I don’t need you lecturing me alright? I know all that. Forgive me if the voices in my head like to torture me and make me feel like shit for leaving my friends behind to fend for themselves.” I snapped.

_Imagine if the Fake AH Crew decided to take Becca in for questioning._

“I’m sure they’ll be fine. Ryan knows how to use a gun-“

“Becca doesn’t.” I cut in.

“-and I’m sure Ryan will take care of Becca.” Reno continued. He set two plates down at the table and motioned for me to join him. I sat down and started eating although I wasn’t really hungry. The house Reno had taken me to was small. It was surrounded by a forest not too far from the city, just a couple miles off the highway. The outside wasn’t too impressive. The house was painted white with a garage attached to the side. The yard was cleared of trees for a few feet before the grass met the forest again. The inside was okay. It was done in light browns and beiges mostly. There was a living room that was connected to the kitchen. The front door was in there too but there was a little hallway dividing it from the living room. The kitchen had a small dining table in it and on the other side was a door that led to another hallway which had the bedrooms and bathroom. There were three bedrooms in all, the master only a little bit bigger than the others. I absolutely hated this place.

After breakfast Reno went into the living room to watch the news and I headed back to my room. There was nothing to do here. I wasn’t allowed my phone or even internet to keep me busy. The only book in the house was about astronomy and I had already read that twice. I flopped on my bed and let my mind wander which, in my case anyways, was always very dangerous.

_You could just run back. Reno can’t keep an eye on you all the time. He goes to sleep right? Doesn’t take much to slip by. I bet Ryan misses you. I bet he’s thinking of you right now, his heart broken and worried sick. You love him don’t you? Go back to him._

“Shay I’m going into the city for some supplies. Do you need anything?” Reno called.

_Bingo._

“Cake.” I replied.

“Cake.” Reno repeated.

“Yes. I want a Black Forest Cake. A big one,” I got up and walked out to the living room. “Come on Reno the least you can do is let me having something like that since I’m stuck here. It’d make me feel better.”

“Fine. I’ll get you a cake.” Reno rolled his eyes and slipped his coat on. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Kay.” I waited until the car pulled out of the driveway before heading to Reno’s room. I knew he kept my phone in there somewhere. After I completely trashed the room I eventually found it, hiding in his sock drawer. I went back to my room and quickly stuffed some clothes into a bag before heading to the door. I thought about it for a moment and decided to leave Reno a note. The last thing I needed was him thinking I was taken. Once that was done I slipped my shoes on and headed outside. I went into the treeline and made my way to the highway.

“Damn it Reno why did you have to find a house so far away from people.” I cursed. It took me an hour and a half just to get to the highway. When I finally made it I got up on the side and stuck my thumb out, hoping someone would stop. I kept walking backwards, hoping I didn’t trip and make myself look like an idiot. After what seemed like forever, a car did finally stop.

“Hey there,” A girl rolled down her window. She had short blonde hair and huge sunglasses on. She was wearing a long blue dress that had flowers sprinkled on it. She looked harmless enough really. “Need a ride?”

“Yeah I was hoping I could get dropped off in the city.” I explained.

“Sure. Hop on in.” I thanked her and got in the passenger side.

“I didn’t think anyone would stop.” I laughed a bit.

“Yeah the city is pretty far away from here. You’d have worn your feet away to nothing if you kept walking!” The girl replied. “I’m Hanna by the way.”

“Shay.”

“So why were you walking to the city?” Hanna asked.

“Well I was gonna drive but my piece of junk car broke down in my drive way. I would have called a friend but a lot of them are working right now and I didn’t want to pull them away from it.” I shrugged.

“Can’t afford a taxi?”

“Nope. Unemployed at the moment.”

“Ah. I know how that feels. I only just started working somewhere. It’s only been a week so I haven’t even gotten paid yet. I’m so glad my parents were willing to support me this whole time.” Hanna said. We drove in silence for a bit. It wasn’t until we were nearing city limits that I spoke again.

“If you could just drop me off somewhere near Court that’d be great.” I told her.

“Sure thing.” I wanted to get as close to Ryan’s as possible without giving an address. I took a twenty out of my wallet and handed it to Hanna as soon as she stopped.

“For gas.” I smiled.

“Awe you don’t have to do that. I’m just glad I was able to help out.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind. It’s the least I can do.” Hanna bit her lip but accepted the bill.

“Well alright. If you’re sure.”

“Thanks for the ride.” I got out and waved as she left. Sighing, I started my walk up to Ryan’s house. “Please be home.” I whispered. When I got there I was relieved to see his car in the driveway. I ran up to the house and pounded on the door. I heard footsteps and then the door unlocked. When it opened, Ryan was standing there in his kilt and suit top that stupid crown sitting on his head.

“Shay?”

“Hey Ryan.” I tried to smile but failed miserably.

“What-why are you here?” He stepped aside to let me in and took my bag from me.

“Turns out I don’t do well in isolation,” I joked. “What’s with the getup?”

“Oh…I was just about to head out and get some last minute things for the plan…” Ryan replied. “But I think I have a reason to stay home now.” He closed the door, dropped my bag and threw his crown up the stairs before coming over to me and scooping me up in his arms.

“I’m sorry,” I wrapped my arms around him and held him tightly. “I didn’t want you getting hurt. They threatened you and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to you because of me.” Tears were running down my face and I started sobbing.

“I was so worried about you. I know it’s only been two weeks but not having you by my side…God Shay I had no idea if anything had happened to you,” Ryan carried me over to the couch and sat down, putting me on his lap. “Please don’t ever leave for the sake of keeping me safe. I don’t give a fuck about my life if I end up losing you. We will find the Fake AH Crew together okay?”

“Ryan I need to tell you something. About the Fake AH Crew.” I pulled back slightly.

“What?” Just then the door burst open and, speak of the devil, the Fake AH Crew waltz in. Geoff was even there too but he was in a wheelchair. As soon as they saw me they all stopped dead in their tracks, Michael shooting me a death stare. I think it surprised us all when Geoff greeted me warmly.

“Shay! How are you doing?” He wheeled over to me, smiling the whole way. I thought at first that he was just taunting me but after looking at him for a few moments I realised he was actually happy to see me. Maybe he was high.

“I-I’m fine.” I replied. “How’re you feeling?”

“I’ve been better but at least I’m alive,” Geoff shrugged. “My boys here have been really worried though. I don’t know why. Takes more than a bullet to the lung to kill me.” He laughed. The others came over as well, eyeing Geoff warily. “Ryan! Be a good host and get us some drinks. I’m dying over here.”

“Are you sure you should be drinking?” Ryan asked.

“Nope but I don’t care.” Shaking his head, Ryan lifted me off of his lap and got up to get the others something to drink. When he was gone, Geoff turned back to me.

“Listen, Shadow. I know Michael here has threatened you about what happened. I want you to know that I hold nothing against you and if the others try to do anything, I’ll be delivering their head on a platter personally.” He said quietly.

“Geoff! She shot you!” Michael growled. “How can you just let that go?!”

“Because if the roles were reversed I would have done the same,” Geoff replied. “This city is fucked up. Gang fights happen all the time and usually it’s resolved in a matter of minutes.”

“I’m not part of a gang…” I said softly.

“Ryan believes you are. We don’t know what he has planned but whatever it is, he’s been pulling in some big guns. I’m not going to ask you for any information. That’s his business. But Shay if you hurt him…well let’s just say that Ryan is a good friend of mine. I won’t hesitate to do something. Also, stay away from my business okay? I don’t need you stealing our shit so some competition can steal our ideas.”

“Understood.” I nodded.

“Fuck this.” Michael shook his head and left, slamming the door behind him. Ryan came back into the room with the drinks, looking surprised at the sudden outburst from Michael.

“What happened?” He asked, setting the drinks down.

“Who knows with him,” Jack said. “He’s always mad about something.” Ray and Gavin seemed to come back to life then and began chatting away merrily about some random things. Ryan and Jack helped Geoff onto the couch and Ryan reluctantly gave Geoff his drink. I sat there and just listened to them all talk. I was still scared out of my mind about the Fake AH Crew being here but as long as they didn’t try anything I wouldn’t either. The guys stayed until late afternoon before claiming that work was calling them. Gavin made a joke about how Ryan had to come back with them to pay off his building being redone.

“Hey, I’ve got enough money to save it! Besides, I’m still trying to think of something new to make. I’ll find it eventually.” Ryan swore.

“Hey Shay, if he stays in his office for hours on end go in there and drag him out. Last time he did that he nearly killed himself.” Geoff shook his head.

“I’m inventing! I need peace and quiet!” Ryan shot back.

“You need a therapist you nut!” Geoff yelled, causing the others to laugh.

“We better go before Geoff works himself up too much.” Jack sighed. He got Geoff back into his wheelchair and started pushing him to the front door. Ray and Gavin followed them with Ryan close behind.

“I’ll come into work tomorrow,” he promised. “I need to get some supplies for my creativeness.”

“You’re a fucking whack job Haywood. I swear if you lock yourself up again-” All of them went outside and I didn’t hear the rest of Geoff’ threats. I sat there for a moment, thinking. I wasn’t entirely sure if I could trust Geoff to not come after me. I knew for certain Michael might try something. I had a feeling he wasn’t one to listen to orders if they didn’t suit his needs. And of course there was Ryan. Even if they were his friends the Fake AH Crew would not hesitate to use him to get to me.

“Hey,” Ryan came back into the living room and sat down. “Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I was just thinking about how pissed Reno is going to be when he finds out I’m gone.” I lied. I can’t tell Ryan who his friends are. If they haven’t told him themselves it had to be for a good reason.

“I’m sure he’ll forgive you.” Ryan laughed. My phone went off then. I grabbed it and looked at the name, wincing slightly.

“Speak of the Devil…” I took a deep breath and answered. “Hey Reno.”

“You fucking idiot what the fuck were you thinking?! You just waltzed right back into their hands! How are you supposed to stay safe if you’re in their territory?!” Reno yelled.

“Hey I never was any good in isolation and you know that.” I tried to joke.

“You think this is funny?! I just got word that their planning something Shay. Something big. Just this afternoon they stole from a weapons store!”

“They did?”

“Yes. Took all the guns and ammo they could carry.” That made no sense. They were here the entire time. Well except Michael but one guy couldn’t rob an entire weapons store.

_The Fake AH Crew has many members._

Oh god they used Ryan as an alibi.

“What else did you hear?” I asked Reno.

“Not much. Only that they’ll be hitting their target soon, whatever it is,” Reno explained. “God I can’t believe what an idiot you are. I even bought that stupid cake for you!”

“Uh…I have to go Reno. Bye!” I hung up just as he was about to yell again.

“What’s up?” Ryan asked.

“I think we should move your plan to break into Roosters up.” I turned my phone off in case Reno tried calling again.

“Why should I do that?”

“Because something big is happening and I have a feeling we don’t have much time left.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry! I took so long in uploading this chapter! Forgive me! *cries*
> 
> Anyways. Wonder what the Fake AH Crew is planning.


	10. Let's Plan our Future...Heist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan lays out the plan for the big day and Shay calls on some help from Saul.

While I had spent my two weeks in hell Ryan ended up getting a getaway car. It was black, since we’d be doing the heist at night, had really good tires for off-roading and was armoured.

“Hopefully by the time the police get there we’ll be long gone.” Ryan said, running a hand down the hood of the car. He was wearing his Mad King outfit, the crown sitting crookedly on his head, and a deadly gleam was in his eyes. I think this was the first time the Mad King came out since the night I broke into Roosters. It was kind of hot actually.

_Focus moron._

Ryan had called in the rest of his people, including the ones who had helped with the jewelry fiasco. In total there were about forty-five people which, according to Ryan, was the exact number we needed. They would split into groups of ten, three of the groups breaking into the banks and the fourth group staying behind to run the technical shit. The remaining five would join Ryan and I for when we broke into Roosters.

“So!” Ryan called me back from my thoughts. All of us were standing in a warehouse that was also being used as our HQ. I was standing behind Ryan, leaning against the wall. “The three banks you will hit are far enough away that the cops will be busy for a while. Once the third bank has been hit, the people staying behind will call me and Shay and I will head into Roosters. The five going with us will spilt into two groups. Three of you stay outside and keep an eye out while the other two come in with us.”

“Sir?” One of the guys raised a hand.

“What?” Ryan looked over at him.

“Where is the meeting point?”

“Here,” Ryan pointed at a map set up on the wall behind him. It pointed to a place just outside of town. “There is a cabin hidden within the forest. As soon as you are sure you have lost the cops you head out on the highway. The road to the cabin is hidden a bit so keep your eyes out. Just follow the road to the end.” The cabin he was talking about was the place Reno had me hiding out. I had suggested it when he mentioned he needed to find a place for everyone to meet up afterwards. “Once everyone is there, the ones who are here may leave and leave quickly. Go separate directions, lay low for a few days. Your cut of the money will be in your accounts shortly after the heist. Everybody clear?” They all nodded. Ryan then started splitting the groups up. While he did that, I slipped away for a moment, taking my cell phone out.

“Hello?” Saul answered on the first ring.

“Hey Saul.” I greeted.

“Oh hey S…wait. No. We didn’t do the thing!” Saul faked panic. “Oh god what if someone connects us?!”

“Shut up,” I rolled my eyes. “Listen. Which gang are you with?”

“W-who says I’m with a gang?” Saul stammered.

“The sign on your neck?”

“That’s just a tattoo S. It means nothing!”

“Saul if you don’t tell me I swear to God I will-“

“Alright! Alright! I’ll tell you!” Saul cut in. Wow he was really scared of getting death threats. “It’s…bestdressedtophats.” He said it so quickly I didn’t hear him at first.

“Excuse me?” I asked. “Wanna run that by me again?”

“Best Dressed Top Hats.” Saul ground out.

“I…” I stared laughing. “Best Dressed…Top Hats?”

“Shut up!”

“What do you guys do? Wear suits and top hats all day?”

“No…”

“Oh my fucking god you do!”

“Shut up!” Saul yelled, leaving me in a fit of giggles. “What do you want with us?”

“Well, it’s not that I don’t trust Ryan’s judgement or anything but I don’t trust Ryan’s judgement.”

“With what?”

“With this heist that he wants to do. I have a feeling something bad will happen and I wanted to ask if you’d provide backup?” I looked around me to make sure no one had followed me. “Just in case.”

“Uhh…I can ask the boss I guess…what exactly would we be doing?” Saul asked.

“Just standing by until I give a signal. All of you will get paid whether or not you help us. Sound good?” I noticed Ryan giving me a questioning look and I held up a finger, asking him to wait a moment.

“Yeah sure. I’ll let you know what the answer is.” Saul and I hung up and I walked back over to where Ryan was. The others had left already, all the information needed given out. Ryan was looking over his plan on the whiteboard, a look of anticipation in his eyes.

“Finally I will know what those five have been up to. Not only that but we’ll have pulled off the biggest heist this city has ever seen. We’re gonna make history, babe.” Ryan wrapped an arm around me and pulled me closer to him. “Who were you talking to?”

“Saul.”

“Ah…so what do you think we should call ourselves?” Ryan asked.

“Call ourselves?” I repeated, looking up at him.

“Well every gang needs a name right?” Ryan shrugged. “We also need a sign. Something everyone will remember for years.”

“Since when have we been a gang?”

“Why do I get the feeling that you detest the idea of it?” Ryan mused.

“Gangs always seemed like too much work,” I said, wrinkling my nose. “I’ve always worked alone. Having to deal with a group of people, no matter how small, just didn’t seem worth it to me. If it was only me then I wouldn’t have to worry about being backstabbed or having a job fail because someone couldn’t do their part.”

“Yes those are downsides to having a gang but the upsides make up for it. Extra people mean more backup. They can watch your back while you’re busy. Also it’s good to have someone stay behind and work security,” Ryan shrugged. “With our gang I could handle everyone. You would just focus on the job. You still don’t look happy with this.”

“Being in a gang means you have a large target on your back for other gangs to try and hit and if they can’t get to you then they’ll go after those you know…” I bit my lip, thinking of Becca.

“You’re worried about your friend.” Ryan clarified and I nodded. “Well…she could join us. She wouldn’t have to do any of the jobs. She could just…handle the money bit of it. Who knows? Maybe she’s really good with a computer.”

_That still doesn’t mean she’ll be safe. Why does he want to start a gang anyways? There’s no point. Something will happen and you’ll either end up dead or in jail._

“Why don’t we see how this heist plays out first before we decide on gang names? Who knows? Maybe the media will think of a good one.” I could tell Ryan didn’t like that answer but he didn’t say anything.

_Yes let’s buy more time that will totally make everything better._

“Did you realise that this is the warehouse we first met in?” Ryan said, walking a little distance away.

“I was wondering why it seemed so familiar. You’ve really spruced the place up.” I actually didn’t know it was this warehouse. They all looked the same to me and, to be perfectly honest, I was too busy beating up potential rapists to notice anything.

“I figured it’d be fitting,” Ryan turned back to me, a look on his face that I didn’t like. “You know…there is an office in the back…”

“You are seriously not thinking of screwing in an old warehouse,” I crossed my arms. Ryan just shrugged. “You want to have sex here? Do you realise how many rats, bugs and hobos have inhabited this place?” Instead of answering, Ryan practically ran towards me and scooped me up in his arms. He carried me to the back of the building with me fighting the whole time.

“Will you just relax?” He laughed. We came to what I guessed to be the office he was talking about but when he opened the door I saw something I was not expecting. While the room wasn’t that big it was still big enough to fit in a fucking queen sized bed. The entire room had been done up too. Instead of the falling apart walls there were new walls that had a fresh coat of paint on them. There was carpet on the floor and a TV.

“When the fuck did you find the time to do this?” I demanded. “And why?”

“I thought it would be a nice touch. In case we ever spent a late night here.”

“You are fucking insane.”

“Yup.” Ryan kicked the door closed, threw me onto the bed and climbed in beside me. “I also thought it would come in handy if one or both of us got extremely horny and needed to drag the other away for some fun.” He started kissing my neck, his arm snaking around me and pulled me closer. “Like right now.” He rolled so he was on top of me, his lips never breaking contact with my skin. Ryan kissed a trail up to my chin and back down again while he fingers traced up my arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck and moved so he was kissing my lips instead. I sighed as we made contact. It had been a while since we did anything like this, both of us too busy worrying about everything to even consider anything else. Ryan’s hand found its way under my shirt and started to trace patterns across my stomach, causing me to giggle.

“I love your laugh,” he whispered against my lips. “I love the taste of your skin and the way you fit so easily with me.” As he spoke, he started kissing a trail down my body making sure to pay attention to every bit he could get at. He lifted my shirt up and kissed the tops of my breasts. Just as he reached around to undo my bra, someone burst into the room.

“Sir! I have the reports you requested!” Ryan paused for a moment before leaping up and turning on whoever came in.

“Anderson!” Ryan snapped. “Do you not know how to knock?! You could have just left the reports on the table _like I had asked_.”

“I-I’m sorry sir,” Anderson cowered under the glare Ryan was giving him. “You asked that I let you know right away. I didn’t k-know anything was happening in here.” Ryan growled and grabbed the guy by his arm, dragging him out. I could hear the poor kid getting lectured by Ryan the whole way. I sat up and fixed my clothes, knowing that the mood was ruined. I sighed and followed the two, shaking my head as Ryan continued to yell. Mad King indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the short chapter but I really had nothing else to put because it's getting so close to heist time and I want that to be it's own chapter. I am thinking there will be maybe one more chapter until that time though. Just some generic stuffs to get out of the way.


	11. I thought we were friends?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shay is surprised to find someone she trusted become her enemy

Chapter 11

The next few days went by as smoothly as they could considering we were planning on robbing three banks and Ryan’s work place. Honestly I was just waiting for something bad to happen. While we waited for the big day I kept thinking about Rebecca. I missed her. A lot. All I wanted to do was pick up the phone and call her. It eventually got to the point where I finally did call which is why I found myself hiding in the Ryan’s bedroom, waiting for her to pick up.

“Hello?” She answered after a few rings. She sounded tired, her voice raspy and thick, like she had been crying.

“Becca?” There was a beat of silence.

“Shay…Oh my god Shay?! Is that really you? Oh my god where the fuck have you been? I’ve been by your apartment so many times. I even camped out there! I was so close to going to the fucking police! What the fuck happened?” She demanded.

“I’m sorry,” I started. “I wish I could have called to let you know I was fine.”

“Yeah that would have been appreciated! The last time I saw you was when you kicked me out after saying it wasn’t safe for me anymore. I thought something happened.”

“I’m sorry!” I said again. “I would have called if I had known it was safe for you. So much has been happening lately. Can we meet up somewhere? Please? I really want to see you.”

“Fine. But you are so paying for food.”

“Alright. I can do that. Anything you want. It’s on me.” I promised. We agreed on a place to meet and hung up. I grabbed my purse and made my way downstairs. Ryan was over at the warehouse, going over final details with the others. I wrote a quick note and left the house, locking the door behind me. I hopped onto my bike and headed towards the restaurant Becca picked. It wasn’t too big but it wasn’t somewhere we could be easily overheard. When I got there she was already waiting outside looking pissed as hell.

“Hey…” I smiled slightly.

“You better have a good explanation.” Was all she said before storming into the restaurant. I grimaced and followed her in. We were sat at a table a bit away from everyone else thankfully. Both of us put in our drink orders and started looking over our menus.

“So.” I started.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Becca demanded in a harsh whisper. “You disappear for three weeks and then randomly call. Do you know how worried I’ve been?”

“I didn’t have a choice in the matter Becca. I was trying to protect you.”

“So what changed?”

“Well I’m apparently no longer in any danger.” I replied.

“That doesn’t really tell me much Shayne. Why were you in danger to begin with?” Oh god she used my full name. She only did that when she was really upset.

_Wonder why._

“Look, the night I broke into the jewelry store the Fake AH Crew showed up.”

“Who the fuck are they?”

“A really bad gang that’s been running the streets for a while now. They were threatening us so I shot their leader.”

“Us?” Becca raised an eyebrow.

“Um…I asked Ryan to help out and he brought a few other people along. Anyways we ended up doing a shootout which ended pretty quickly but the gang members were pissed at me for shooting their leader and basically said they would kill me if he didn’t survive. I ended up going into hiding for a bit but came out of hiding because I absolutely suck with isolation and I found out their leader was on the mend and he told me I was safe.” I took a deep breath and looked up at Becca. She was silent for a moment, staring out the window beside us. As I waited for a response I noticed something on her neck. I couldn’t really see it but it looked like it was a circle broken into four groups with something in the middle.

“I think it’d be safer for both of us if we stayed away from Ryan.” Becca said, turning back to me.

“Oh? And why’s that?” I asked.

“Well think about it. Ever since we met him things haven’t been the same. You’ve been getting into more trouble recently and I’m working for someone whose friends are apparently the most dangerous gang in this city. Think about it Shay. You were so close to stopping your…jobs before him,” Becca grabbed my hand, concern in all her features. “I just don’t want you to end up in jail over him.”

_Well she’s right. Three banks plus Roosters. Tough job, even for the amount of people we have. And who’s to say Ryan will get you out of jail? Heck he might even be planning on framing you._

“Wait a minute how did you know his friends were the Fake AH Crew?” I demanded, pulling my hand away.

“Oh please. The news of Geoff Ramsey getting shot the same night you apparently shot the leader of the Fake AH Crew?” Becca huffed and crossed her arms. “I wasn’t born yesterday Shay.”

“Yeah whatever. So what’s your big plan then? Can’t hide in this city, Ryan will find me.”

“Easy. We move again. Start over. It’ll be better. I promise,” Becca replied. “Haven’t you always said you wanted to live somewhere on a beach? We could move to the seaside. Or we could find another city near a beach. One with a big mall. It could just be the two of us again.”

_If you leave Ryan you won’t have to commit to anything. No gangs, no relationships, nothing. It’ll be easier. Plus Ryan could have any woman he wanted so it’s not like it’ll take forever to replace you. Maybe a week. Besides, all you’ve wanted is to be alone with Rebecca checking up on you every once and a while. Maybe this time you can find a real job and support yourself and actually do something with your life._

“I don’t know Becks.” I shook my head slowly, biting my lip.

“Shay, what is he to you besides a good lay?”

“I think…”

_Don’t do it._

“I think I might…”

_Don’t you dare do this._

“I think I love him Becca.”

_Well you’re fucked._

“Really?” Becca looked shocked. “You barely know him! All we know for sure is that he’s some crazy psycho who wants to rob a bunch of places! You don’t know his past life! What if he beats his girlfriends?”

“Coming from someone who wanted to bang him the first day you met!” I shot back.

“Yeah well I obviously didn’t know any better,” Becca replied. “You can’t be fooled by good looks Shay.”

“She can’t be fooled by fake friends either.” A new voice spoke up. We turned and saw Ryan walking towards us, a few other guys behind him. His face was pure anger but it wasn’t aimed at me. He marched right for Becca and grabbed her arm, hauling her out of her seat.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?! Get your fucking hands off of me!” Becca tried to get out of Ryan’s hold but he tossed her to the others who came with him.

“Take her to the warehouse.” He demanded. They nodded and dragged Becca out of the restaurant.

“Ryan? What the fuck?” Instead of answering, Ryan took my hand and quietly led me to his car. I looked back at the restaurant, everyone inside looking scared shitless. Someone was on the phone, speaking rapidly into it but I lost sight of them once the door closed. Ryan helped me into his car and walked around to the driver’s side, getting in silently and taking off down the road.

“Ryan.”

No answer.

“Ryan?”

No answer but that time he glanced over at me. He was sitting rigidly, his grip on the steering wheel turning his knuckles white.

“Ryan what the fuck is going on?” I demanded.

“You’re little friend there is working for the Fake AH Crew.” Ryan snapped.

“What?”

“We have proof to believe that ever since they met her, the Fake AH Crew has been trying to recruit her into their gang. And it worked.” We pulled up to the warehouse just in time to see the men Ryan had been with taking Becca inside.

“What are you going to do with her?” I asked.

“We won’t hurt her if that’s what you’re worried about,” Ryan assured me. He got out and opened my door, wrapping an arm around my waist as we walked towards the building. “I just want to ask her some questions.” Once we were inside he left me and disappeared somewhere. There were a bunch of people working in the warehouse, most of them were in the group that was staying behind. Ryan said they were working on hacking into Roosters without being detected. So far police hadn’t broke the door down so it seemed to be going fine. One of the hackers, Ann, came up to me with two cups of coffee.

“You might as well settle in,” she said, handing me a cup. “They’ll be talking to her for a while.”

“I can’t believe she would join them.” I shook my head. Ann bit her lip before nodding to her station.

“Follow me.” She led me over to her computer and clicked on a few files, bringing a video up. I sat down beside Ann and silently watched as Becca met with the Fake AH Crew, somewhere downtown. Everyone who showed up, except for Becca, were wearing masks. Guess they were worried about being seen or something. There seemed to be a heated argument going on between her and Geoff before Becca finally nodded and they shook hands.

“Who took this video?” I asked.

“We had someone following her around, making sure nothing bad happened. However we couldn’t stop this.” Ann sighed. There were a few more short clips of Becca going into a tattoo place and coming out with the Fake AH symbol on her neck as well as meeting with the Crew a few times. There was a date on the bottom of the screen and the last video showed today’s date, an hour before I called and then right after we hung up. In all the videos the Crew seemed to be wearing masks. These guys were really paranoid.

“She told them you called and they wanted her to try and get you away from Ryan.” Ann explained.

“They said everything was fine.” I whispered.

“What?”

“I got a message from the Fake AH Crew. It was from their leader, saying everything was fine between us. Why are they going after her?”

“Maybe they thought she had information?” Ann supplied.

“That doesn’t explain why she would join them. Where did they take Becca?” I asked.

“There is an interrogation room just down that hall. Third door on the left.” Ann pointed to where she was talking about and I nodded, getting up and heading that way. When I got to the door I knocked and waited. It took a moment before Ryan answered the door.

“Is something wrong darling?” He asked. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was in Mad King role.

“Can I talk to Becca?” I asked. I was worried he would say no but Ryan nodded.

“I think that might help. She refuses to speak to me.” He stepped aside and let me in, closing the door behind us. Becca was sitting at a metal table, her hands cuffed to the chair she was in. She was holding her head high and was glaring at Ryan with such hatred they term “if looks could kill” came to mind.

“Becca?” I asked softly. She looked over at me briefly before turning away. “Becca why did you…did they force you into agreeing with them?” My voice cracked. “I-if they threatened to hurt you or someone you know we can protect them. And you. This can be fixed. I know it can.”

“Oh Shay. You’ve always wanted to see the best in people,” Becca sighed and turned back towards me. “I joined them because they offered me a deal I couldn’t resist.”

“You’ve always hated it when I did things like that.” I said quietly.

“Yeah well I was concerned for your safety. However the Fake AH Crew knows what they’re doing. They plan very carefully and take away a lot of money.” Becca shrugged.

“The Fake AH Crew hardly ever succeeds in their heists!” Ryan snapped.

“That’s what they want you to think. See, those failures are all part of the plan. While people are too busy laughing away at what went wrong, they fail to realise that the Fake AH Crew made off with over a thousand dollars across the city.”

“What?” I was confused. There were never two stories of the Fake AH Crew striking somewhere. It was always one and it always seemed to fail.

“The main part of the Crew targets little stores and such while a secondary part of them takes on something bigger. However they don’t say or wear anything related to the Crew so it’s always assumed it was just some random kids.” Becca explained.

“They…they do two heists at the same time,” Ryan shook his head. “I thought it was only a coincidence that another place across the city would get hit.”

“Shows how smart you are.” Becca snorted.

“But that still doesn’t explain why Becca.”

“About four weeks ago they kidnapped me, wanting information about your where abouts. They threatened to kill me, my family, my friends…they kept me for days. I told them all I knew about what was going on between you and Ryan and after a while they let me go but not before offering me a place within their ranks. They promised I could get back at you for what happened.” Becca said, looking at me.

“Get back at me for what happened?” I repeated.

“It’s not like I blame you Shay. Ryan is a guy after all and guys will go after anything they find pretty but I thought you would know enough to stay away from him.” Becca explained.

“Are you talking about me sleeping with him?!” I demanded. “I thought you forgave me for that!”

“I lied.”

“Whoa, whoa what’s going on?” Ryan asked, looking between us.

“Easy. I liked you, she slept with you, I’m mad.” Becca replied.

“Over that?” Ryan exclaimed. “You joined the Crew over _that_?!”

“There’s more to it than that but…yes.” Becca shrugged.

“What else is there?” I asked.

“I got tired of taking care of you Shay. I should have taken you right back home and handed you over to the hospital when I found you,” She shook her head. “You and that little voice inside your head are so needy. Always scared, always paranoid something is going to happen, never heeding my advice. You’re like a fucking two year old. I had to give up everything for you. My parents, my friends, everything. I dropped out of a really good university just for you. I fucked up my entire life and it wasn’t worth it. So when the Crew said I could make tons of money _and_ get back at you, I agreed.”

“Becca…” I whispered.

“And yet, out of everything that is wrong with you, you still seem to get everything you want. You got the guy, you are now apparently a leader of a fucking gang, and you have all the money you could ever hope for…I don’t get it. You’re insane. You should be locked away. How is it that you’re able to get everything?” Becca huffed.

“Maybe because, despite being insane, she actually has a heart,” Ryan said. “I think we’re done here. The guards will be in shortly to escort you to the holding cell.” Ryan wrapped an arm around me and led me out of the room, slamming the door behind him. He motioned to someone standing outside and they nodded before heading into the room. Ryan led me to the bedroom in the back and sat me down on the bed.

“What’s going to happen to her now?” I asked quietly.

“We’ll keep her here until either the Crew tries to get her back or until we figure out what to do with her. Right now she’s the enemy Shay. We need to be cautions.” Ryan replied. I nodded. My own best friend, an enemy. How did life come to this?

_Well…you are kind of needy of her…_

Shut up. Now is not the time for this.

_Just think. All this time she has secretly hated you for tearing her life apart._

I didn’t ask her to follow me.

_You didn’t even repay her. And then you steal the guy she liked. How’s that for friendship?_

I didn’t mean for that to happen. It was in the heat of the moment…I wasn’t thinking.

_But you stayed with him._

I love him.

_That’s supposed to make it better?_

“Shay?” Ryan knelt down in front of me. “Sweetheart, everything is going to be okay. Once everything is over the two of you can sit down and talk and work things out. Come on, let’s lay down for a bit.” He moved onto the bed and waited for me to move to the other side and get comfy before spooning up behind me and wrapping his arms around me.

_Is it worth it? Losing your best friend over the man you love?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens! I'm sorry it's been a long time since I've updated. I've been so busy and I haven't had enough time to write any new chapters.


	12. This isn't how I pictured it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's heist time and Shay is really looking forward to it. However things don't go exactly as planned and she finds herself in a difficult situation.

Chapter 12

Tonight was the night. Everybody was gathered in the warehouse, keyed up and ready to go, when Ryan and I walked in. He was wearing his trademark Mad King outfit, tux top and kilt with a crown sitting crooked on his head, and I in my regular dark pants, black tank top and leather jacket. I also had my knee high combat boots on and I had to say I looked pretty freaking hot. Everyone gathered around the whiteboard Ryan had set up and were waiting for any last minute instructions.

“Alright guys and ladies! This is it! We have thought over every detail in this plan. Our ammo is stocked, everybody has heavy armour on and nobody is going to fuck this plan up.” Ryan’s voice got deadly serious at the end and I could see a few guys shift around at the glare Ryan was giving to everyone. “Any questions?” He asked sweetly. Surprising, no one raised their hands. “Very good!” He was about to say something else but was interrupted when there was a knock on the door.

“I got it!” I yelled and ran towards it, opening it up a little just to make sure it was who I was expecting. Sure enough, standing there in a full tuxes with a black top hats, was Saul and his gang. “Oh my god you look adorable!”

“Shut up.” Saul growled, pushing past me.

“What the fuck is going on?” Ryan asked, coming to stand beside me.

“Back up.” I said proudly.

“Back up?” Ryan repeated, looking between me and Saul. “Who the hell are you guys?”

“We,” A woman wearing a red top hat came forward. “Are Best Dressed Top Hats. The fanciest looking gang in this city. My name is Aqua. I am the leader of this gang.” She held her hand out and Ryan shook it hesitantly.

“Um…I’m the Mad King?” I couldn’t help but snort at how unsure Ryan sounded.

“Well Mad King, I believe we shall be the greatest of friends, if Saul’s word means anything.” Aqua nodded towards Saul.

“Hey! I’ve known S here since she moved to town. This kid right here is one of the craziest, most fucked up person I’ve ever met. And I’d intrust my life to her.” Saul said proudly, crossing his arms.

“That was a very touching thing to say. Now we gotta get moving.” I said. “The teams are just about to head out.” We all made our way back to the patiently waiting group.

“Alright so we have some friends coming to help out. This completely ruins my teams.” Ryan shook his head and started dividing the members from Best Dressed Top Hats into our group. “Okay…well now that that is all settled I’ll re-explain the plan to our new arrivals.” He went carefully over the plan, step by step, and the new members nodded along, committing everything to memory. When he was done they were as hyped up as our group and were anxious to go. Those who were heading to the banks left before my group. We would wait ten minutes and then make our way over to Roosters. The group staying behind to work security was already hard at work, talking to those on the way to their marks and talking them through the blueprints of the buildings. While I waited for our go ahead, I wandered into the back where Becca was being held. It was much like what cops had, one room where the person sat with a one way wall of glass. Except the room she was in had more than a table and chair. There was a small cot and some books to keep her busy. I slipped through the door into the room right beside hers so I could see through the glass. I wanted to go into the other room but Ryan was the only one with a key and he was too busy to bother. Instead I flipped on the com between both rooms.

“Becca?” I waited for her to turn towards the glass, her face expressionless. “You don’t have to answer back or anything. I just wanted to see you. We’re going to do our heist now. The others have left. My group is waiting for the signal. You know…this might be my last job. Depending on how much money we make tonight I could retire. Well, that is if I make it out. The Fake AH Crew…well they’ll surely have my head for this. I just wanted you to know something. Before I left. The night I slept with Ryan…I had just gotten back from a job he sent me on. My crazy levels were through the roof. I almost got caught that night actually. I triggered an alarm and I think a guard saw me. Not to mention the dozens of cameras they had set up.” I snorted and shook my head. “Anyways. I really didn’t mean for it to happen. I haven’t forgiven myself for it yet. I know this means nothing to you since I never really did stop seeing him afterwards. And…about everything else you said the other day. I wanted to apologize for that too. I didn’t mean to drag you down with me. I left because I had hoped nobody would follow but when you found me I realised how much you meant to me. You were…are my best friend. My only friend. I-if I do make it out alive I want to make it up to you. Somehow. Anyway I can. If you’ll let me.” I sat there for a moment, staring at her, hoping she’d say something. When it became apparent she wouldn’t, I sighed and shut the com off. Getting up, I headed back out to the others and found them all ready to go.

“Oh good. You’re here,” Ryan came over to me, smiling. “This is it! You ready?”

“Yup.” I smiled at him and we went out to the cars. We got into the two vehicles waiting for us, Ryan and Saul riding with me. Aqua was also with us.

“So, what made you decide to hit Roosters?” Aqua asked.

“Curiosity.” Ryan replied.

“Curiosity killed the cat.” She warned

“Satisfaction brought him back.” Ryan shot back, a huge grin on his face. “Let’s go.” Our driver started the car and we got going. It wasn’t that long of a ride to the building. Once we were close enough, the car’s lights were turned off and we silently gliding into an alleyway just down from Roosters.

“Alright guys. We wait here until intel gives us the go.” Ryan said, speaking to us as well to the others through his ear piece. Right now the first group should be heading into their bank. Five minutes after them the second group would go, then the third group. The wait was tense, all of us just wanting to get things over with. Ryan reached over and grabbed my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze which I returned. After a bit I heard his ear piece chirp.

“Alright guys let’s go.” We all got out, the others behind us following. We quickly made our way to the building, Ryan speaking to someone at the warehouse. “Okay guys, they’re in. The alarms are turned off. We should have all the time in the world to get in and out.” Ryan unlocked the front door and we walked inside. I paused, listening for any sounds of an alarm being triggered.

“ _Okay guys. There is a guard on the fourth floor but the door you want is on the fifth. Try to be quiet on the stairs. He’s right beside them.”_ Someone spoke through our ear pieces. Nobody replied but we did as we were told. Heading to the stairs, Ryan opened the door and we all tiptoed up them until we reached the fifth floor. The guard that they were talking about seemed to be walking up and down the hall near the stairs and we had to pause for a minute and wait for him to go by before continuing on.

“ _I don’t see any guards on the fifth floor. It seems to be completely dead. Actually, I’m surprised they only have one guy on duty.”_ Oh shit. That was bad. That was very bad.

“Ryan.” I whispered, catching up to him.

“Hm?” He stopped walking.

“I don’t like this. Only one guard?” He was about to say something but paused, thinking.

“You’re right…” He turned to the others. “Okay guys, be really careful. Something’s up.” They all nodded, their faces hard. We got to the fifth floor and slipped through the door. Ryan led us down a few hallways before stopping at a door. He opened it slowly, peering through the small crack to make sure nobody was inside. When he was positive it was clear we headed in. The room was pretty bare. There were a few desks but that was about it. At the far end, however, sat a huge metal door.

“Okay so how exactly are we getting into that?” Saul asked.

“ _We got the code. It was pretty easy actually. These guys are so full of themselves.”_ Someone said. They gave us the code and Ryan went to punch it in. We heard a click and, taking a deep breath, Ryan opened the door. The inside was dark but after turning a light switch on we were able to see piles of boxes, all stacked on top of each other neatly.

“What’s with this?” I asked. I went over to one box and found an address on it. “2764, West Allen…”

“What is it Shay?” Ryan asked, coming up behind me.

“This address…it’s…Geoff’s.” Suddenly lights went on and someone started to slowly clap. We all whirled around to see Geoff and the Fake AH Crew standing behind us.

“Well done. Very well done. You know, I was starting to believe you would never do this Ryan.” Geoff said, grinning.

“Geoff? What’s going on?” Ryan asked.

“You see, we wanted to be sure you were right for the part so we devised a little…test. Went a bit too slowly for my tastes but here we are!”

“What do you mean?” Ryan stepped in front of me protectively. I don’t even think he was aware he did it, all his attention was on Geoff.

“All those packages we sent out, all those days you were wondering who that mysterious buyer was…it was me. You see, I started Roosters as a way to gather the brightest minds I could find to help me build better weapons. We eventually formed a crew. The Fake AH Crew. I thought we had everyone we needed but then you came along with your brilliant mind and I knew you had to be a part of this crew but I had to be sure. We thought long and hard over it, finally deciding we’d push you into breaking into here and finding things out for yourself.” Geoff explained. “And you did! You’ve proven yourself! Not only were you able to get into here but you pulled off three other heists successfully! I’m so proud of you!”

“You…set this up.” Ryan said dully.

“Yup!” Geoff replied.

“Now all we gotta do is put our sign on you and you’ll be one of us.” Jack said. His eyes flicked over the rest of us. “But…the others can’t.”

“This test was for Ryan alone. Sadly all of you are worthless to us.” Geoff’s eyes fell on me and they were actually really sad. “I’m sorry to say this but you all know too much about us.” All of the Fake AH Crew drew their guns.

“No!” Ryan yelled. “Geoff don’t you even thinking about doing this!” He growled. By this point everybody else had drawn their guns as well.

“This is how it has to be Ry,” Ray said quietly. “I don’t want to do this either but…we have to stay hidden.”

“Geoff you promised me.” I said.

“I know. I’m sorry. But I didn’t think it would come to this. You I know can keep a secret but…you’re a bad influence on Ryan. You need to be out of the picture.” Geoff sighed.

“Wait…what do you mean he promised?” Ryan turned to me.

“That day we came over, when I was still in the hospital, I swore we wouldn’t get revenge for shooting me. It was why Michael stormed out. He wanted to kill her then and there.” Speaking of where was he?

“Shay you knew this entire time who they were?” Ryan asked. “And you never told me?”

“It was to protect you.” I answered quietly.

“From what?!”

“From them!” I pointed at Geoff. “I knew there had to be a reason you didn’t know already. I thought…I thought they were trying to protect you from themselves. Ryan, being in a well-known gang is dangerous. More then what I was doing by myself. It’s why I don’t want to start one with you. You get so many enemies. This town is full of gangs and they aren’t scared to try and take a competitor down.”

“She’s right. We have to watch our backs constantly,” Gavin piped up. “It’s horrid.”

“Were you just going to keep this hidden from me forever or what?” Ryan ignored Gavin.

“Not forever…I was going to when this was done.” I replied.

“As much fun as this is we really need to get going. Ryan here needs to get fully initiated into the family and you guys need to go bye bye.” Geoff pointed a gun at me.

“Then you might as well kill me.” Ryan said, turning back to Geoff.

“What?” Geoff lowered his gun a bit, confused.

“I’m not joining you,” Ryan said firmly. “If you think for one moment that I’m going to even consider joining you after you’ve threatened not only my friends but the love of my life? You really need to rethink this. If they die, so do I.”

“Ryan, we’re your friends. You don’t need these cheap bastards. And as for the ‘love of your life’, you can always find another chick to bang. Fuck we’ve got tons of them in the Crew, not to mention all the hookers who like bad boys,” Geoff said. “You don’t need her.”

“It was nice knowing you Geoff, even if our entire friendship was built on lies. If I survive then I guess we’ll be at war with each other since that’s how it apparently is between gangs.” Ryan drew his gun and pointed it at Geoff.

“You’re making a mistake Ryan.” Geoff growled. Without answering, Ryan pulled the trigger and shot Geoff in the shoulder. All of a sudden everyone else was shooting too. We outnumbered the Crew by a lot and I could hear Ryan yelling into his ear piece, calling for back up. I shot Jack in the leg, watching as he fell, a cry of pain escaping his lips. None of the people in my group were aiming to kill. All the Crew members went down from either a shot to the leg or arm, some of the bullets hitting their torso but not in any life threatening areas. Eventually one last bullet took Ray down and we stood there watching the Crew moan in pain, blood all over the floor beneath them. I looked around, trying to see who was hurt in my group. Saul was down, blood seeping from his shoulder but he seemed unhurt otherwise. Aqua was also hit and a few of their crew members as well. One of our guys was dead, I could tell right away. His eyes were staring at the ceiling, dull and lifeless. I didn’t even know his name.

“Shay,” Ryan walked over to me and wrapped my in a tight hug. “You’re okay?”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “You?” He nodded. I looked up into his eyes and smirked. “They hit your crown.”

“What?!” He took the crown off and examined where the bullet hit. “Son of a bitch!”

_BOOM_

“What the fuck was that?!” Saul yelled.

_BOOM_

The entire building shook.

“What the hell is going on?” Aqua called to us.

“PLAN G BITCH!” Geoff cried.

“EVERYONE GET OUT!” Ryan yelled. We tried to move as quickly as possible, but it was hard with those who were wounded.

“What’s Plan G?” I panted. The whole building was shaking and swaying at this point.

“No time to explain we need to leave now!” We ran down the stairs, nearly tripping over our feet. I could hear crashing coming from the upper levels and smoke started appearing in the stairway. After what seemed like forever we finally made it to the first floor. All of us booked it to the door and crashed through. “Keep running! We have to get away from the building!” Already there were people screaming and running away, pointing up at the top levels. I looked up and saw that there was debris and smoke coming from them. When Ryan felt we were far enough away we all slowed down and looked back. The entire building was coming down, small explosions going off at every level.

“Plan G,” Ryan said solemnly. “I heard Geoff and Gavin talking about it once. The entire building was rigged with explosions. They really wanted to keep our inventions away from spies. Michael must have set them off.”

“The others…” I didn’t finish the sentence as the fifth floor blew out of existence.

“If I know Geoff, they’re already long gone.” Ryan said.

“We should get out of here and tend to the wounded.” Aqua said. Ryan nodded and led us back to the vehicles, all of us piling in. We made our way to the safe house where, thankfully everyone else was waiting.

“What happened?” Someone asked.

“We sent back up but when they got there they said the building was gone.” Another added.

“Was it the Fake AH Crew?” Someone else demanded.

“Everybody calm down. We need someone with medical skills to take after these guys,” Ryan motioned to those who were hurt in the gun fight. “As for the rest of you, how did the banks go?”

“Fine. We gave the cops the slip and all met back here. Some of the others are in the back, counting.” Someone answered. Ryan nodded. It was all a jumbled mess after that. Everybody was asking questions and swarming around us. Eventually the buzz quieted down and the groups started leaving. Those who had been wounded weren’t too bad and were able to leave as well. Soon it was just Ryan and I. He went and practically collapsed onto the couch, running his hands through his hair. I sat down beside him, placing a hand on his knee.

“This whole time I was just playing into their hands,” Ryan whispered. “I can’t believe I didn’t make the connections. All those nights they turned down going out for a bit…the news of the Crew hitting someplace else that same night…it never clicked.”

“Maybe it’s a good thing it never did.” I said.

“Why’s that?” He asked.

“Well, we would have never met. If we did it might have been under completely different circumstances,” I replied. “And to be perfectly honest, I’m glad we met. This has probably been the craziest shit I’ve ever even considered doing. Plus I got to meet someone as crazy as me and I fell in love with him.” Ryan raised his head and rest it on his hands, looking over at me. His face was expressionless but I could tell he was curious about what I was saying.

“You know, before I sent you that email, I had been arguing with myself, trying to decide if contacting you was a good idea. You seemed like such a carefree person, not worried about going to jail or getting killed while on a job. I was worried you’d only mess with the plan, do something wrong and then I’d have to pay for the repercussions. I’m glad I did though,” He wrapped and arm around me and pulled me onto his lap. “Just for the record though, could you say you love me once more? I just want to make sure I heard you correctly.” I laughed and shook my head.

“Nope. You only get it once.” Instead of answering, Ryan brought our lips together. He clutched at me desperately, trying to get me even closer to him. I lost myself in the kiss. It was finally over. We robbed enough money to last us for a long time and, hopefully, the Fake AH Crew was out of the way. I thought everything was going to be okay. But then I heard the click of a gun behind us.

“Well, isn’t this just fucking beautiful,” We both turned around and saw Michael pointing a gun at us. He was covered in soot from the explosions, blood dripping down the side of his face. “Have to hand it to you Shay. You did what you set out to do. You made it big! Did the biggest heist this city has ever seen and you got the guy of your dreams! Congratulations! But guess what? You forgot to factor in the part where I hunt you down.”

“Michael? Where are the others?” Ryan demanded. He stood up and set me on my feet, pushing me behind him.

“In the hospital, suffering from the explosions. I got them out of the fifth floor just in time but we were too slow going down the rest of the way. There were some…accidents,” Michael shrugged. “The point is they’re alive, no thanks to you two.”

“Michael we didn’t mean for any of that to happen.” Ryan said in a soothing voice.

“Like hell you didn’t!” Michael yelled. “If it wasn’t for your stupid plan none of this would have happened!”

“You guys pushed me into doing it!” Ryan replied. “It’s not my fault you guys wanted me to go through some twisted test! If you had just told me what was really going on-”

“We couldn’t just ‘tell you’ you fucking dipshit!” Michael screamed. “We’re a fucking gang! We had to make sure you wouldn’t go running to the police!”

“You had me making fucking weapons for all of you! I would have gone to prison anyways!” Ryan’s voice was rising and I tried to think of a way to calm them down. “God, for all I know you were trafficking drugs too!”

“Ryan don’t get him wound up any more than he already is.” I said, eyeing the gun in Michael’s hand.

“Shut up bitch! If it wasn’t for you, things would have gone smoothly!” Michael snapped at me. He swung the gun towards me.

“I have a question.” Ryan said.

“What?” Michael’s gaze flicked over to him again.

“I heard that you guys were looking to recruit her too. Why the sudden change of mind?”

“Maybe because we realised what a fuck up she is. We were able to look into her file and saw some pretty weird shit. No way were we going to allow a crazy person into our group.”

“My file?” I asked.

“Shayne L. Dawson. Born March sixteenth, 1987. Was admitted to St. John’s Asylum but ran away. Was never heard of again. Best friend Rebecca Crow went missing a week after you did. We read some local newspapers and everybody thought you either kidnapped her or killed her.” Michael replied.

“How were you able to find me?” I whispered.

“We searched around for women who went missing with the name Shay. We found a newspaper from your town with a picture on it. Wasn’t too hard after that.” Michael shrugged.

“What were you going to do with Becca?”

“Nothing. She wanted in. We let her. She had some good information about you two. Helped us a lot. But now it looks like you both have to die.” Michael said.

“What if we leave?” Ryan cut in. “We’ll leave and you guys can have the city back. I promise. You won’t hear from us ever again.”

“Too late.” Time seemed to slow down then. I saw Michael put pressure on the trigger and I had two options. My first instinct was to run and save myself, get out of the house and either find a weapon or just keep running.

_Awe look at poor, little Shay. Too scared to save the one she loves. It’s no wonder nobody likes you. You’re better off dead or locked up and left all alone. You’re a worthless waste of space and you’ll never-_

“NO!” I screamed and pushed Ryan out of the way. A searing pain went through me as the bullet hit.

“Shay!” Ryan yelled. I fell to the ground and saw Ryan tackle Michael. The two of them fought, each trying to gain control over the other. The world around me was fading in and out. I could feel a warm spot spreading on the front of my shirt and I knew that I was bleeding out. I never thought I’d die like this. I thought it would be in the heat of battle or some shit like that. Not because I saved someone. But then again I loved Ryan with my entire being and if he survived then I think that made up for dying.

_You know…it’s weird. This feeling. It doesn’t hurt anymore._

I know.

_I’ve been too hard on you. All these years I’ve been holding you back. I’m sorry._

Me too.

_At least we had fun._

Yeah…

I heard a few more shots go off but my vision was too blurry to see anything. I tried to lift my head, tried to see what happened, but I was getting so tired. Just as my eyes started to close I saw someone get up and start walking over to me.

“Ryan…” I whispered before everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...Best Dressed Top Hats is my crew in GTA.....and we totally wear suits and top hats all the time. Anyways! I almost died writing this chapter. I've been so looking forward to releasing this and now I can finally let all of you know what happens!


	13. Well now what?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shay wakes up in a hospital and everything seems to be okay now

I could hear voices, some of them were yelling. Bright lights were flashing across my eyelids. I tried to open my eyes and see where I was but I couldn’t really see anything. There was a group of people, all of them had masks on. A hospital? It was all fuzzy. More yelling, the sting of a needle and then everything went dark again.

When I woke up again there were tubes coming out of me. An IV drip was set up beside me as was a heart monitor. I listened to the quiet beeping for a moment before looking around. I was in a hospital room and I had restraints on me if the pressure on my legs and chest was anything to go by. Everything hurt. I wanted to call out but my throat was so dry. Just then a nurse came in.

“Oh you’re awake!” She smiled. “Welcome back love. You must have a ton of questions but first let me get the doctor. Is there anything I can get you?”

“Wa..ter.” I croaked. She nodded headed back out. As soon as she left someone else came through the door and ran right to my side.

“Shay,” Ryan whispered, brushing hair away from my face. “Oh my Shay.” He hugged me gently, trying not to hurt me, and kissed my forehead. “I thought I was going to lose you.”

“Don’t overwhelm her please. She just woke up.” The nurse came over to my bedside, a cup in her hand, and moved the bed so I was sitting up. She placed a stray in my mouth and I greedily drank the water in the cup. Once I had my fill she set the cup down on the bedside table. “The doctor will be in here in a moment.” She gave Ryan a hard look and left again. Once she was gone Ryan moved me over a bit and climbed onto the bed with me, gathering me in his arms.

“How long have I been in here?” I asked quietly, my throat still a bit sore.

“A few days. You’ve been sleeping the whole time.” Ryan replied.

“What happened? After Michael shot me? I don’t remember much.”

“As soon as I realised what happened I went straight for his gun. I wasn’t even thinking straight. I managed to get it and I shot him, then I carried you out to the car and drove you here.” Ryan said.

“Michael…is he dead?” I asked.

“I think so. He was still alive when I left. That kid could take a bullet to the head and still survive. I went back to the house as soon as they told me you were going to make it but he was gone. There were blood stains leading out of the house so he either picked himself up and got out or called someone.” Ryan explained.

“We’re going to have to burn that place down.” I commented.

“Already done.” Ryan said. The doctor came in just then and Ryan hopped off the bed and moved away.

“Hello there Mrs. Haywood,” My eyes shot over to Ryan who just smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “My name is Dr. Heyman. How are you feeling?”

“I hurt.” I replied. The doctor nodded.

“I would think so. You survived being shot in the chest. Not many people are as lucky as you were. Now, I know you’re probably wanting to get home but we still need you to stay here for a few more days, just to make sure everything heals up nicely.” I nodded. “Also…I have to apologize for the restraints. We’ve had problems in the past where those who have just come out of comas or surgery get a little…violent. Especially if it was from something very traumatic. It’s just a precaution. Actually, I’m surprised the nurse didn’t do anything about them when you first woke up.” He shook his head and moved towards the bed, undoing the restraints. He then went on to check al vitals and all the other shit doctors do when you’re in a hospital. When he was sure everything was normal he told me to hit the button beside my bed and a nurse would come and help me. He left and Ryan came back over and got back in his spot on the bed.

“So, just out of curiosity, how much money did we make?” I asked, looking up at Ryan.

“Well…After I paid our crew and the other one the both of us made off with close to nine hundred thousand.”

“Wow.”

“Three banks,” Ryan shrugged. “We’re lucky they weren’t in the process of moving it.” I looked towards the windowsill and noticed flowers sitting there. There were two vases, one filled with roses and one filled with a random assortment.

“Who are those from?” I asked.

“The roses are from your friends, Saul and Reno. They were in and out for a bit. The others are from Geoff. He sent them as soon as he heard what Michael did,” Ryan shook his head. “Honestly I don’t understand that man.”

“I don’t think he wanted the outcome that happened. He just wanted you to be part of his Crew. At the time I wasn’t in the picture. I was an unseen obstacle.” I tried to adjust myself but pain suddenly shot through me, leaving me gasping. Ryan jumped up and hit the button beside my bed. A nurse came running in.

“What happened?” She demanded.

“Hurts.” I whispered. She nodded and left the room for a moment, coming back with a syringe.

“This should numb it,” she said, sticking it into my IV drip. “It’s going to make you sleepy as well. Rest is what you need.” She put my bed back in a laying position and left the room. It took a moment but I could feel the effects of whatever she gave me kicking in. Ryan pulled the blanket up around me and kissed me on the forehead.

“I’ll be here when you wake up, baby.” He whispered. He pulled a chair up and took my hand in his. I slowly drifted off to sleep, looking forward to the day I could go home.

 

It took about two weeks before the doctors let me go. They left some last minute instructions with Ryan of which I didn’t pay attention to. They had given me a painkiller which was already starting to make me a bit sleepy. Ryan practically carried me down to the car and helped me in, making sure I wasn’t in any pain.

“You don’t have to mother hen me Ryan.” I shook my head. This was going to get old very fast.

“I just don’t want to hurt you.” He replied, shutting the door. He walked around the car and got into the driver’s side and started us home. I was so glad to be out of the hospital. I wanted a proper bath and real food and actual clothes. I drifted off during the ride and woke up when Ryan started carrying me into the house. As soon as we walked through the door Saul and Reno came barreling down the hallway.

“Shay!” Saul yelled. “You crazy bitch!”

“Jesus Shay why didn’t you call me?” Reno whined.

“Alright, alright back off you two,” Ryan growled. “She just got out of the hospital. Don’t crowd her.”

“I’m fine guys,” I laughed. “Told you before. It’s going to take a lot more than that to get rid of it.”

“Oh I’m not talking about that,” Reno said, following Ryan and I into the living room. “I’m talking about the fact that you fuckers made off with a bunch of cash and I wasn’t added into the fold!”

“You weren’t needed.” Saul elbowed Reno in the ribs.

“Weren’t wanted? Weren’t wanted?!” Reno went to lunge at Saul but Ryan stopped him.

“Come on guys. I don’t want to kick you out.” The other two grumbled but behaved.

“Anyways, Aqua wants to know if you guys would join in an alliance with us,” Saul said, sitting on one of the chairs. “Despite the crazy finale we had fun.”

“Even though you lost some guys?” I asked.

“Hey, it comes with the job. Hell, we kill each other every day but that’s just us,” Saul shrugged. “Besides. Aqua liked what she saw in you two. Wouldn’t mind the extra help should we come up with a problem.”

“We’ll think about it,” Ryan replied. “For now I think Shay needs some rest so if you guys don’t mind…” He nodded towards the door. They understood and got up.

“Alright well…don’t do anything stupid.” Reno muttered, hitting me softly on the head.

“Yeah. Man I was so worried. Who was going to steal something nice for me to give my girls?” Saul snickered.

“Fuck off.” I flipped them the bird, causing them to laugh. Once they were gone Ryan plopped down on the couch beside me.

“You’re friends,” he said, shaking his head. “I swear to God Shay one of these days…”

“I think I might kill them first,” I said. A thought stuck me and I sat up, instantly regretting it. “What happened to Becca?” I asked.

“We let her go,” Ryan shrugged. “There wasn’t any point in keeping her locked. I have a feeling you’ll see her again though.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, she is part of the most dangerous gang ever. Ten to one she’ll be doing some recon or something. You’ll see her. Maybe not in the way you would like but…” He shrugged again.

“There’s nothing we can do? To get her back?” I asked quietly.

“I’m afraid not, love. Not unless she comes back on her own. But, should that ever happen, keep on your toes. Just because they gave you flowers doesn’t mean the Crew forgives you.” Ryan pulled me against him and rested his chin on the top of my head. We sat like that for a bit, content to the silence. I felt myself nodding off again, the pull of the drugs the hospital had given me finally too much for me to handle. Ryan stood up and carefully lifted me in his arms, carrying me upstairs to his room. He lay me on the bed and crawled in next to me, holding me close.

“So what’s going to happen now?” I asked around a yawn.

“Well, we can either take Aqua’s offer and start a crew of our own to help form the alliance or we can just slip away in the night and find someplace quiet. Maybe on a beach somewhere. We’ll talk about it when you wake up.”

“M’kay.” Forming a crew wasn’t sounding as bad anymore. Heck it might even be fun. Even with the constant dangers of rivals and getting caught, the past few weeks had been worth it. Plus, whenever we got tired of it, we could just give someone we trusted leadership and Ryan and I could leave. “Let’s not pick a dumb name like Best Dressed Top Hats though…okay?” I asked out loud, causing Ryan to laugh.

“No I don’t think we’ll be called anything like that. Goodnight Shay.”

“Night.” The last thing I felt was Ryan’s lips on my forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go! I can't wait :3


	14. One Year Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One year after the events at Roosters and Shay is being asked a question she never thought would be asked.

_“Shay don’t do it,”_ Reno spoke into my ear. _“You have so much to live for kid! Don’t do it!”_

 _“Shut up, R!”_ Saul hissed. _“Don’t listen to him, S!”_

_“This is the stupidest thing you’ve ever done Shay!”_

_“She hasn’t even done it yet!”_

_“Well it will be!”_

_“Shay don’t listen to him! Do it for the good of humanity!”_

_“Why are you on her side this goes against everything you believe in!”_ Reno yelled. I could hear a crash and new Saul had just tackled Reno. We were currently on a job. Ryan wanted to hit a jewelry store so we got a few of the crew together and went for it. Our crew, The Mad Kingdom, had been making progress in the city. I fought so hard to get the name changed.

“It’s a pun!” Ryan had defended it to the end. “Puns are funny! Look at Saul’s gang!” I just shook my head and gave up. At least are symbol was cool. A crown inside of a circle. After what happened at Roosters people were starting to know us. I had already let it drop that I was part of the crew and I think that made the cops want to catch us even faster. I had thought it odd when Ryan came up to me, wanting to do this job all of a sudden. We had just hit a bank two weeks ago so this caught me completely off guard. Oh well. He was known for being spontaneous.

“ _Shay! This is the voice of God! Don’t do this! You can only do so much in life! Don’t do this!”_ Reno yelled, his voice further away from the mic. I tried to ignore them as best I could, my eyes on Ryan. He was kneeling on the ground, a huge diamond fucking ring in his hands, looking like he was going to kill Reno and Saul. I couldn’t blame him. They were ruining what was supposed to be a perfect moment for any couple really.

As soon as we got to the store I knew something was up. Ryan had only brought me inside and led me over to one case in particular. There, I watched him smash the glass and take out the ring he now held before taking a breath and kneeling before me.

“Shay, a King can’t rule his kingdom without a Queen at his side,” He had said. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my Mad Queen?” It was then that Reno and Saul started shouting at me.

“ _Shay I swear to God if you don’t say yes to that man I will!”_ Saul said. That was it. Both Ryan and I cracked up. “ _I mean…No! I meant I will say yes for you and I will force you to marry him!”_

“Guys you’re fucking everything up!” Ryan cried. “I asked you to stay behind and film this not completely ruin everything!”

 _“I’m trying to stop her from throwing her life away! This is suicide!”_ Reno replied.

 _“If you keep interrupting a beautiful moment you’ll be the one wanting to commit suicide!”_ Saul yelled. Ryan sighed.

“Shay?” He looked back up at me.

_Oh fuck he’s giving us the puppy dog eyes._

“I…” I was speechless. I had no idea Ryan was even thinking about getting married. But after everything we had been through I shouldn’t have been this surprised. “Yes.” The grin that Ryan gave practically took over his face as he slipped the ring on my finger. He jumped up and grabbed my around the waist, swinging me around.

 _“You idiot! Why would you go and do that?! Now who’s going to complain about being single with me?!”_ Reno whined.

 _“She hasn’t been single for a while, R.”_ Saul pointed out.

_“Shut up!”_

_“By the way guys the cops are on their way.”_ One of the other techs said.

“Oh.” Ryan set me down, grabbed my hand and we started running. By the time the cops showed up we were out of sight but we still kept running. Finally Ryan stopped and pulled me into an alley.

“So I guess we need to pick a date then.” He laughed, pushing me against the wall.

“And a place for a honeymoon.” I said just before he kissed me.

 _“Oh God. Guys we can still hear you! Don’t bang when the mics are on!”_ Reno cried.

 _“So turn it off dipshit.”_ Saul sighed. There was a moment of static and then they cut connection with us.

“I thought they’d never leave.” Ryan chuckled and kissed me, his hands going under my shirt.

“We really going to do this in an alley?” I asked.

“What, not romantic enough for you?” Ryan teased. His hand ran up my leg, sending shivers through me. “I could call the guys and have them bring the car over here. We could find a nice hilltop with no one around, the city lights glowing softly in the distance…” Just then a light was shining at us.

“Hey! You two kids can’t be doing that here!” The cop yelled. Ryan grabbed my hand again and we took off. You know, I could have never foreseen this outcome. I was perfectly content to spending my life alone, my craziness and Becca being my only company. Now I was started a whole new life with Ryan and I was actually ready for it. What I wasn’t ready for was what was being planned across the city. An old rival of the Fake AH Crew had come into town and they were getting ready for something big.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH GOD I DID IT. I SWORE I WOULD NEVER WRITE AN ENDING LIKE THAT BUT I DID. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? IT MEANS A SEQUEL IS HAPPENING AND THAT MAKES ME HAPPY! Whoa. Okay. Calm down. *ahem* HOLY SHIT THIS IS THE END. I know this is a very short chapter but it was supposed to be. I just wanted to add this in :3 anyways. About that sequel....

**Author's Note:**

> The movie I'm referencing is called "The Other Bolyen Girl". It's a great movie and everybody should go and watch it. Now. Do it. But first leave a comment on what you think of this! Also I got so excited to write this that the first chapter ended up being seven pages long...I have no regrets!


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